XPost: can.politics, ont.politics, tor.general   
   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   — CP — Jun 9 2014   
      
      
   Hudak won’t fire special ed teachers   
      
      
   OTTAWA - Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak promised Monday that   
   his pledge to cut 100,000 public sector jobs won't take a toll on   
   special education classes, but said schools would be different under his   
   government.   
      
   He said the cuts will target some 9,600 "non-classroom personnel"   
   considered expendable by the Drummond report, which examined Ontario   
   government spending across the board.   
      
   "We've got to make some choices... but what do I want to see?  What does   
   our plan involve?  Making sure that special education students get the   
   best quality of education possible."   
      
   He said that with education spending up at a time when there are fewer   
   students in school, it's time to take a close look at the system and   
   programs such as full-day kindergarten, which was brought in by the   
   Liberals and will be in every elementary school when classes start this   
   fall.   
      
   "More money, fewer kids and our test scores have either plateaued or   
   gone dangerously down in areas like mathematics," said Hudak.   
      
   "Some of these programs do have merit. But we're in a realm of not if a   
   program is good or bad, it's what can we afford."   
      
   The Tory platform calls for increasing class sizes, which could affect   
   the number of public school teachers, and reducing the number of early   
   childhood educators in full-day kindergarten classes.   
      
   The Liberals claim Hudak's plan would see upwards of 22,000 educational   
   workers lose their jobs: 10,000 early childhood educators, another   
   10,000 support staff and "thousands" of teachers.   
      
   "The total cuts in education alone could total 30,000 jobs and $2   
   billion, once the extra cuts Hudak needs to balance the budget in   
   2016-17 are factored in," the party said in a news release.   
      
   In a video released Monday, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of   
   Ontario — which had earlier feuded with the Liberals over a bill forcing   
   a wage freeze — made a plea for the electorate to back anyone but Hudak   
   in tight races.   
      
   "Every vote against the Hudak Conservatives will be a vote for education   
   and for a better future in Ontario," President Sam Hammond says in the spot.   
      
   At the Ottawa event, Hudak also backtracked on earlier comments that his   
   Tories would not fund the second phase of the city's light-rail project.   
   He now says they'd be open to talking with Ottawa on funding its transit   
   needs once the province's books are balanced.   
      
   Ontario voters go to the polls on Thursday.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)