The common thread running through the many recommendations in Special Matters is that sufficient resources,especially human resources and training, to deal with the problems, must be made available. Classroom teachers must be backed up by enough special needs teachers, remedial teachers, Board support personnel and Department support personnel and these people in turn must be adequately trained. Finally, class sizes must be small enough to deal with today's realities. For the sake of all students, and for the sake of excellence in education, we urge the Department of Education to implement recommendations in Dr. Canning's report. We urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to support the Department of Education in the context of an overall plan involving the Departments of Education, Health and Social Services, to address the needs of children in this province, particularily children at risk, from preconception on.
Money spent now is an investment in the future.