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Paul W. Bennett: State of education lost in Nova Scotia budget storm

Education and improving student learning were already low priorities for Tim Houston’s government. The Nova Scotia budget crisis and disruptive service cuts have knocked the state of education and everything else off the provincial news feed.

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Completely lost in the maelstrom are some critical subterranean issues. Post-pandemic declines in literacy and numeracy, ongoing school violence, cost overruns, the erosion of instructional time and e-learning gaps remain largely unaddressed in our P-12 schools.

So far, the official Opposition and the Liberal Party rump group have also been giving the play-it-safe, admittedly agreeable Education Minister Brendan Maguire a free ride. Former NSTU president Paul Wozney, appointed NDP critic for ethics and accountability, is absorbed in rooting out PC patronage and corruption. Lost in the coverage was his move from the education file to play “caped crusader” exposing “private interests” and probing “shady decisions and secretive practices.”

Holding the Department of Education to account has been left to Peter Day and the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union, Bedford-based Unplugged Nova Scotia and anonymous critics like Nova Scotia School........

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