Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister is correct in saying there are a number of items that the department asks the school boards, such as salaries. These are the things the department asks for: salaries, employee benefits, services purchased, contracts, including professional technical services, postage, communication, utilities, travel, student travel, advertising, printing, publishing, maintenance, repair, rentals, leases, other contracted services, materials, supplies, freight, and contributions in transfers. That is an accounting book. That is I give you $100 dollars and how are you spending the $100?

I think the questions the parents with kids with special needs want to know are questions like, is there a policy in place to ensure a trained aid is matched with a child's special needs? Is there a database listing training courses and experiences aids and teachers have? Is there any long-term planning associated with a child expected to be enrolled in the district for several years? Is there a database that says how many kids in our system, in your school board, have been assessed to be in need of special needs? What is the level of their needs? How many special-ed assistants do you need to meet those needs? How much money do you have? If you need a hundred positions, do you have money for 80 positions? Are you meeting the top 80 students whose needs...you know, I really do not care how much money they spend on -- I guess I should care, but you know, this is an accounting ledger. What about the quality? I really would like to see this as notice to the department that if we really are, and I know we are concerned. We hear it all the time about increasing the number of kids in our school system that need special attention. If we really are going to make a difference we have to know what our problems are. The accountability has to be about what difference we are making, not about in what column this ledger goes.

I expect that I will not get an answer to this today, but I hope that the next time we meet, maybe sooner than that, we will get better answers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.