P.E.I. teachers eager to meet with new Education minister

Island teachers are eager to meet soon with P.E.I.'s new Education minister Doug Currie to talk about major changes to the province's education system.

Curriesaid Friday he plans to create a "leaner, more efficient" education system. His return to the education portfolio comes two months into a major transformation of education on P.E.I., as theEnglish Language School Board was dissolvedand its functions absorbed into the department.

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"Teachers have many questions on how the transition to the crown corporation will work and how this will impact on teachers, consultants, board based professionals and, ultimately, Island students," said PEI Teachers Federation president Bethany MacLeod in a written statement to CBC News.

It's good that Currie is familiar with education, said MacLeod, since he was a principal and a teacher himself, and served as Education minister under Robert Ghiz from 2010 to 2011.

"[It] should be a positive for bringing supports back to the system to help teachers and students across the province," said MacLeod.

The union wants Currie appoint teachers to new committees set up to advise government on education. And they would like to see him visit Island schools"to get a full realization of the realities teachers face on a daily basis and the intensity of needs that exist in Island classrooms."

MacLeod said she wishes former Minister Hal Perry well, noting his commitment to listen to the concerns of teachers and his "genuine interest in advancing Island education."

The teachers are currently in binding arbitration with the province over their contract, which expired last August. Class composition and teacher salaries are teachers' key issues. Currie has stated there are "fiscal realities" to be addressed by all cabinet ministers as the government attempts to balance the budget.