The NWT’s education minister said the federal government “cannot walk away from the table” as she declined to rule out legal action over Jordan’s Principle changes being blamed for deep cuts in northern school staffing.
Inuvik is losing 13 classroom teachers, almost a quarter of the town’s classroom teaching workforce. Many support assistants in the Beaufort Delta and elsewhere in the NWT are also facing layoffs.
In all, hundreds of positions are said to be affected, though the NWT does not have a precise overall tally.
While new GNWT cash related to inclusive schooling and other funding changes should inject $40 million into the territory’s education system this fall, that’s far less than the sum Jordan’s Principle was contributing until the federal government abruptly shut down most NWT schools’ access to the program early last year.
Ottawa has said Jordan’s Principle was oversubscribed and some claims being filed nationwide amounted to abuses of the system. The federal government says families must instead apply for help on an individual basis, though how that translates into in-school supports in the NWT has not been made clear.
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Some NWT organizations have already taken legal action over Jordan’s Principle funding losses. Asked if the GNWT might launch a lawsuit of its own, education minister Caitlin Cleveland left the possibility open.
“My first tactic is always to have the conversation, but I’m definitely passionate about making sure students are properly supported. I feel strongly that we as the Government of the Northwest Territories have done our part to make sure we are coming to the table to stabilize our education system,” Cleveland told Cabin Radio on Monday.
“The federal government needs to also be at that table. There is not a space for the federal government to walk away from that table. We all need to be at the table supporting students, and that includes through Jordan’s Principle.
“So I would never say never to any option, because I feel so passionately that we need to fix this.”
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School leaders meet this week
Cleveland said she will continue lobbying Ottawa to reverse course. Asked what might make a difference after more than a year without any sign of the federal government bending, she said she was “definitely open to suggestions.”
“Fundamentally, provinces are different than territories, and that needs to be recognized and supported in how they intend to deliver Jordan’s Principle,” Cleveland said.
“It is incredibly important that we stabilize the system while also continuing to pursue long-term funding solutions with the federal government.
“Teachers and educators need to be in classrooms and working with students, not trying to figure out how to fit into a funding program.”
Cleveland will meet with leaders of the NWT’s various education bodies on Wednesday to look at how the planned $40 million in new territorial funding can be used to patch some of the gaps left by Jordan’s Principle. She said the priority would be funding as many jeopardized in-classroom supports as possible.
The GNWT will also use the meeting to explain how it intends to roll out the cash, much of which was bolted on to last month’s budget following negotiations with regular MLAs and still needs to be formally appropriated in the legislature.
Public outcry?
NWT Teachers’ Association president Rita Mueller wants to know why the territory isn’t consumed by the topic of major cuts to education.
“Why we don’t have more of a public outcry about this is beyond me,” Mueller told Cabin Radio late last week.
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Mueller said the NWT was already dealing with more and more children entering the school system with complex needs, alongside what she described as a rise in both in-school violence and teaching workload.
“This is going to have a direct impact on the quality of the programs and services that our children are going to have available to them, starting this August. And this is unacceptable,” she said of the cuts being made territory-wide.
“I am extremely worried for our students and I’m extremely worried for our staff, our classroom teachers, our school administrators who every day are going to be faced with decisions about who’s getting support and who isn’t,” Mueller said.
“That is not the kind of public education system the Northwest Territories should have.”
