LIBERALS TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO PROTECT TUITION SUPPORT FOR

(Halifax, NS) Liberal Education Critic Leo Glavine will today
introduce a bill in the legislature that would continue and expand
tuition support for special needs students until the public education
system can provide an equivalent level of support.

Tuition support assists students with special needs by contributing to
the cost of education at three designated private special education
schools. Students are currently eligible for three years of funding, at
which time they are transitioned back into the public system.

In August, the education minister’s review panel on special education
recommended that tuition support be phased out by 2010 and funds
redirected back into the public school system.

“The government has an obligation to meet the requirements of the
Education Act and provide equal education to all students, regardless of
their abilities. As a former educator, I believe in a strong public
school system. But the reality is that the system is failing those that
need our help the most.”

Liberals want tuition support agreements amended so that school boards
are required to provide financial support to eligible students, until it
is determined that their needs can be met in a public school.

Glavine says the three year limit is inadequate. “We’re talking
about special needs students, including those with learning
disabilities, who may require more than three years of specialized
services. The government is trying to squeeze child into the same mold
and it isn’t working. Some of our children are falling through the
cracks. Every student deserves access to an education that meets his or
her needs but the current program makes every student fit into the same
inadequate program.”

Liberals have been calling on the government to address the
shortcomings of the public education system, beginning with a full range
of assessment in the primary year of schooling for early detection of
learning disabilities. They have also proposed restoring special
educators to the public system for those students with severe learning
disabilities requiring special one-on-one education.