Haven't we seen this movie before The NDP government does not provide adequate funding for our public school system so school boards across the province will inevitably have to raise taxes to make up for the shortfall. The latest re-run comes from newly minted Education Minister Peter Bjornson who made the announcement that the province will provide an additional $17.6 million to fund public schools in Manitoba.

From a taxpayer perspective there are a number of problems with this announcement. Since 1995, there has been a steady decline in the portion of funding from the province to the school divisions. In 2003 the provincial funding portion consisted of only 57% of school divisions' budget, the rest coming from property taxes. Back in 1990, the province was funding almost 70% and that was well before the days of the additional Education Support Levy (ESL), a separate tax the school divisions charge on properties.

The province vowed to eliminate the ESL over five years beginning in 2002 however there was no commitment from Minister Bjornson whether it would be cut in this year's budget. It is worth noting that even if there was an announcement of a reduction to the ESL, it will amount in paltry savings for homeowners. Since every penny the ESL is reduced will be offset by increases in school taxes, a so-called tax cut amounts to nothing more than tax redistribution.

The other problem with the lack of education funding from the province has been school board amalgamation. The merger-mania that we have seen with some Winnipeg school divisions is clearly not the panacea for escalating education costs. In 2001 when school division amalgamation began, the CTF warned that amalgamation of the metro-school divisions would lead to higher taxes for all homeowners. Harmonized collective bargaining agreements will drive up salaries and benefits to the highest common denominator. Issues over harmonized transportation services and class size limits will also likely favour the more costly option.

School division taxes have increased by over 80% since 1990, last year alone a number of divisions had double-digit increases, but what has made this situation worse is just over a year ago, school division trustees requested a 34% pay hike.

Clearly school divisions in Manitoba have shown not shown the willingness or the ability to keep spending under control so this begs the question, why do we need them Homeowners would be much better served by centralizing spending through the Finance Minister and de-centralizing governance issues like curriculum development by putting the power back into the hands of the parents, principals and educators.

It has become painfully obvious the property tax burden is unaffordable, the Province of Manitoba should conduct a comprehensive review of the school tax system to explore alternative education funding mechanisms. It is also time we looked at school boards and determine whether they are relevant in our society. Perhaps this cumbersome layer of bureaucracy should be removed and replaced by voluntary committees to oversee our schools.

Other options include the province and school divisions freezing all school taxes and implementing annual school tax cuts. The province should extend the scope of the Taxpayer Protection Act to municipalities and school boards so that all school and municipal tax increases must first be passed by voter approval through referendum.