The public education system is indeed underfunded.
Premier Bennett was blunt when he said the cutting had gone through the flesh and was now into bone. But there has never been a restoration of funding. What has been seen is an unremitting downloading of costs and underfunding of expenses that continues to this day.
Since 2005 private school funding has grown by 45.6 per cent while that of public schools by 16.9 per cent. Schools have closed, educators fired and services reduced. But the present capping of annual public funding increases to 0.6 per cent until 2017 guarantees the hurting will go on.