Hello Chestermere! I would like to start out by giving a big shout out to the comedians who gave us facial trauma from laughing so hard at Laugh Madness this past weekend. Thank you to Arnold Henry and Stephanie Beninger and their amazing team of Ashley Davis, Lea-Ann Benjamin, Braxton Barth, Hope Popplestone, Kelsey Reilly and Karen Guider. This amazing couple have brought so much joy and spirit into our community. Laugh Madness donated $1000 to the food bank and 2 large bins of food, as well as $1200 to a new scholarship program for excellence in sports, community service, and academics at the high school level. Thank you Arnold and Stephanie for all that you do for our community! Chestermere is lucky to have you.
Last week you may have heard that I have been pressing the Government to release the names of those who are participating in the most massive and unprecedented curriculum rewrite in Alberta’s history. Albertans want to know who, in addition to teachers, are being tasked with one of the most important initiatives we will see.
Albertans are telling me that they distrust this Government; just look at the mishandling of the PPA’s, the carbon tax, the way they treated 3500 homeschool students and their families with shutting down Trinity Christian and Wisdom Homeschool, and a Climate Leadership Action Plan that is big on hype but which lacks economic viability.
Albertans are also concerned that this Government does not listen to them; look how they ignored Albertans over Bill 6. Now they will not release the names or organizations of the people participating on the Expert Panels. Personally, I would like to thank the teachers who have undertaken this task, but I also want to know what other organizations are going to influence the content of our K-12 curriculum.
The Government has committed 64 million dollars on a rewrite in a timeframe of 6 years. Ok, that could work, although not every subject in every grade has to have a complete rewrite. Surely there are some pieces of the entire curricula that are relevant and current and do not require such a complete overhaul. Where is the data that shows this Government that every subject in every grade has to be completely rewritten? There was an ongoing ever-greening process in place that kept most curricula up to date thus the Government claim that the curricula was between 8 and 30 years old is not entirely accurate. It may have been that long since a complete rewrite, but the curricula certainly are kept up to date.
Teachers will be faced with creating new lesson plans, new assessments, and perhaps learning how to teach in new ways. And just think; elementary teachers will have to have everything completely revamped for every class they teach! Where are the supports for that, and the time, and the professional development?
Parents are their children’s first teachers, and their feedback and participation in the education of their children is necessary. However, parents are concerned that their only voice to date was, in my opinion, a meaningless survey that left parents with no opportunity for authentic input and with little clarity around the direction that this Government is going with this rewrite. If you answered the survey please take the time to write me at my office and let me know what you thought of it. Please try to attend upcoming meetings in your area in the spring of 2017 through the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia so that you can weigh in on the changes being made.
As the Wildrose Opposition Shadow Minister of Education, my concerns reflect yours: the scope and magnitude of the rewrite, the lack of evidence that suggested we needed a full-scale rewrite, the lack of meaningful parental involvement so far, the secrecy around those participating in the rewrite, their personal or organizational ideological agendas, and the potential that all the pieces of this rewrite will not be ready in time. To say nothing of the cost!
As a community we need to respect and elevate our teachers and our school authorities. We need to trust that our precious children are in the hands of people who genuinely care about and are invested in their future. The question is whether or not the Government understands this.
Please contact Maureen Gough at Maureen.gough@assembly.ab.ca if you are interested in meeting with me to discuss education issues. As always, we love to hear from you.
