Cuts don’t deter minister’s optimism
Penticton Western News
By Steve Kidd
August 25, 2009

…. this is against the backdrop of cuts to funding for public libraries and provincial literacy programs, which MacDiarmid claimed were in response to the worldwide recession….

For libraries, that means a cut of 20 per cent to the funds they receive from the province, money which helps to pay for many of the library programs.

“Their core operating grants are totally being provided. Some of the grants are lower this year and some of them aren’t going to be there at all,” she said. “But we really feel that’s very positive that we’ve been able to provide that degree of funding.”

In 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell made literacy a high priority for the province, stating that by 2010, B.C. would be the most literate province in Canada. However, literacy funding has been taking some big hits recently.

Earlier this month, the province announced they were eliminating regional literacy co-ordinator positions completely, then last Friday they deepened the cuts, chopping $60,000 from the budget for Literacy B.C.’s Read Line and the B.C. Literacy Directory, an online guide to literacy programs.

“I think people understand around the province that this isn’t like last year,” said MacDiarmid. “Our priorities are still our priorities but some of the things we can’t quite do exactly the same way we did last year.”…

MacDiarmid reiterated that the government is facing economic challenges and that the Education Ministry is keeping core funding levels for education, and that the funding going to the classroom has been increased this year.

Many school boards might disagree with that statement. While the per student funding from the government did increase this year, declining enrolment, coupled with loss of revenue from other sources and rising costs left many school boards with large deficits to make up….