Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak in favour of the principle of this bill.
I have always been in favour of whatever would be in the best interests of the school children in our Territory. I think it is particularly important that we are going to commit to increasing the funding for special needs. Having been the Minister of Education for some time, I certainly saw that as being the major area of concern in our classes in the North.
We certainly have a large number of young people who need special assistance. If this bill will ensure some of that support in the classroom, which should have been there when we legislated inclusive schooling, and has not been there for some time now, will actually get there, then I really appreciate seeing this brought forward. I was in support of it in the last government, because we signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the NWTTA to achieve the same goals.
As my colleague for Thebacha has pointed out, this does represent a bit of a different situation in the manner in which it is being instituted. With it being legislated this way, and with us knowing we do not have any additional funds to put into the program right now, we are going to have to be vigilant about where the funds come from. I would hope we are talking about from outside the program, so we are not taking funds from daycare centres or other important social programs to put into the classroom. We need to make sure this is additional money from outside the Department of Education if it is going to achieve these very important goals.
As I said, the most important part of this is the support for special needs. There is very little research on the importance of class sizes. What has come out is that it takes a class size of less than 17 before you can see any measurable difference in achievement. Given the pupil/teacher ratio that we are going for here, and recognizing that that is just a level of funding, it is inconceivable that we will actually be achieving, in the real world, class sizes of less than 17.
But I think the most important part here is that this will help bring down the size of the classes to ensure that, with the special needs support they will be getting in the classroom, the teacher will have a better chance of being successful.
While I do support the principle of this bill, it has set a precedent in that this government has negotiated something that will affect other employers in the Northwest Territories. This being set in legislation, will then require Yellowknife Education District No. 1 and Yellowknife Education District No. 2 to institute the same requirements.
They have, without an employer being at the table, set the precedent of negotiating an agreement and then enshrining it in legislation. That is a precedent that I am somewhat concerned about, particularly in the case of Yellowknife boards. Those boards will not see the full revenue this government will pass on to other boards in the Northwest Territories to make sure this change in the class size and this support for special needs takes place.
In Yellowknife, the boards do not receive the same level of funding. They are only funded for 75 percent of the cost of delivering the education in kindergarten through grade eight. I have some concerns about this bill and how it will be achieved, Mr. Speaker. I think it is only fair to give the government notice that in the committee review, I will be wanting to address a couple of those issues. But I certainly support the principle of the bill and will be voting in favour of it today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.