I would like to thank the mayor and city council for this opportunity to speak to them before their budget deliberations. I know that they have many difficult decisions to make in these hard economic times, and I will try to keep my remarks as brief as possible.

Halifax District PTA has been aware for several months that the school system in the city of Halifax would be facing significant budget cuts this year, and in the next three years as well. Not only did the Province announce its intention to reduce spending, but the Board was faced with a changed funding formula which has reduced its total provincial funding by, not 3% as expected, but rather 6% due to the combination of formula changes and general funding reductions.

We have been consulting with the Halifax District School Board over the past several months, and have formed four funding committees to look at public education funding in this city. As you know, we sponsored a public meeting on the subject in January.

Realistically, we are still months away from seeing direct results from these efforts, but already we can see the beginnings of a special Halifax Education Foundation, which should in future years assist the schools in maintaining the excellence of at least some of the programs offered in the Halifax city schools.

However, this is now, and we must face decisions about the funding to be available in our schools next year. As citizens who need the services which the city provides, and as taxpayers who pay property taxes on our homes, the parents of the children in these schools are acutely aware of the kind of budgetary crisis the city faces.

However, any organization which must make cuts to its budget must first establish its priorities, and uniform across-the-board cuts not only affect the fat as well as the lean, but may also in effect "cut off the hand that feeds you".

The school system in the city of Halifax has been a model of excellence for many years. This does not mean that it has been able to do everything that it would like to do. As a school system in the province's largest city, it faces special demands, such as a high immigrant population needing English as a second language instruction, inner city children needing a special start in the school system, and a network of health services which attracts special needs children into the system.

Not only this, but it has now been subjected to cuts for several consecutive years, and the excellence of its programs is threatened.

The city should look at its school system as one of its greatest assets and generators of wealth. When I moved here from Ottawa in 1987, the first calls I made before coming to the area were to the various school boards. While I could have chosen to live in Bedford, or Dartmouth, or the county, and still taken up the same job, I chose to live in Halifax specifically because of the school system. The impact of this kind of a choice is obvious. Not only did I buy a newly built house and increase the city's tax base, but in living here, I also shop here and support local businesses, which also pay city taxes.

Most of us who spend time recruiting staff know that most people who relocate for their jobs are reluctant to do so after their children have left elementary school, so my decision would be one that many other people considering a move to this area would also be making. Employers considering establishing in a city consider these kinds of factors as well. The last thing the city needs to see its tax base shrink because people choose not to live here, or to establish their businesses elsewhere, due to erosion of its school system.

One of the things that I know as a manager is that not only do we live in a time when espousing concepts like total quality management, continuous improvement, and the achievement of excellence is essential to the maintenance of our standard of living, but also that you ignore the excellence that you have already achieved at your peril. It is much cheaper to maintain excellence, than to build it from scratch. Further erosion of the wonderful educational programs developed and delivered in this city may push them, like the cod stocks, below that critical level needed to survive at all.

For all of these reasons, and most especially, for the city's own enlightened self-interest, the Halifax District PTA would urge the City to hold the line on funding for the schools for the next year.

The Board will come to you today to ask for 3% LESS funding than last year. They bring this request to the city in recognition of the city's attempts to reduce its own expenditures, and we applaud the Board for their efforts to cut costs and demonstrate their willingness to participate with the city in finding solutions to the city's budget difficulties.

However, the Board actually needs increased funding due to increased enrolments and increasing costs, and as parents we urge the city to give the Board the same funds as last year, equalling a 0% increase. While still leaving the Board faced with major cuts in service levels, this would at least allow them to avoid some of the most painful proposed cuts. We earnestly hope that, if nothing else, the Board might be at least able to avoid laying off some of the wonderful young teachers who are otherwise going to lose their jobs. It will not be so long until there is a major wave of retirements, with an associated major reduction in costs, and it would be a great waste to lose these teachers now for the sake of three or four years in the cycle.

It would also allow some time to enter into a strategic planning process involving public consultation and a careful examination of options. We believe there are efficiencies to be found in the system, but that time and thoughtful planning are required to cut costs without destroying the quality of education in this city.

Remember, above all, that we should be not just maintaining, but increasing the quality of the education of our children, if we are to survive in the global marketplace.

Thank you for your time.

(Presented by Sheila McGinn, Co-Chair, Halifax District PTA)