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Protestant candidates weigh in on School Act

The School Act: it's one of the most important laws governing education in Alberta, and it's up for revision this year.

The School Act: it's one of the most important laws governing education in Alberta, and it's up for revision this year. School boards across the province have piled in with suggestions on how to change or protect it in recent months, with the government expected to reply to their suggestions next year.

How would Protestant candidates revise the act? We asked them just that in this final Q&A.

Joe Demko

We must protect the continuation of elected school boards and the retention of their right to supervise all aspects of the procurement and management of their teaching and support staff.

Hiring and negotiating collective agreements with our employees will allow our district to hire staff who can offer programs needed by our students and will minimize the possibility of strikes. In 1985, our district had a teachers' strike that lasted for three days. The last province-wide strike, which did not involve our district, lasted 20 days. We can negotiate with our staff more successfully than the province. We need to keep our kids in school.

We must also ensure that the St. Albert Protestant Schools continues to exist in its present form. Any move to regionalize us with other areas of the province could lead to a dilution of the special programs that we have instituted to meet the local needs of our students.

Cheryl Dumont

We must revise the School Act to meet the needs of today's students, parents and educators.

Consider:

• Enabling early childhood developmental needs assessments, making possible the creation of individual programs to address risk factors and build on each child's strengths.

• Recognizing the role of parents as primary educators and provide provisions for school councils to provide advice to schools and boards.

• Schools are not just places of learning. A new act should support delivery of services that schools struggle to provide, i.e. support for students in crisis, medical, counselling, nutritional, pre-school/after-school care needs.

• The Inspiring Education report says students need to be able to access instruction at any time, any place and at their own pace. To do this the act must support stable financial commitment to education.

I believe we must be open to change that will prepare our children to compete in an increasingly competitive world.

Shannon Homeniuk

The School Act is the major legislative authority that outlines how kindergarten to Grade 12 education is delivered.

We must maintain locally elected trustees to govern the School Act for all stakeholders. We must ensure transparency and access to the decision-making processes.

Parents and students need to have a way of appeal when not satisfied with board decisions. We also need a commitment to publicly funded education for schools in our province, whether they are public, separate or francophone.

Parents have a need to help make decisions for their children's education.

The new School Act will give local school boards more flexibility in the way we interpret the act.

I would like to see changes in how funding is allocated early intervention for our students.

Each student has the right to the best education we as a community can provide them.

Judy Huisman

Provisions of the School Act I believe are important to protect, concern the rights of students to receive a quality education in a safe, healthy environment. That environment should address the diverse learning requirements of all students with support from parents, staff, community and agencies that support children's wellbeing.

Reliable, sustained funding is a necessity. Government departments that work with and for children should contribute monetarily to education funding. Egos, politics and inter-department rivalries have no place in education. Communication, collaboration and co-operation are key.

Local governance should remain the link between communities and school divisions. I don't agree with appointed trustees.

Reliable funding provides the basis from which quality education can flow to the schools for the students' benefit. Innovations and qualified staff enhance the learning experience for students, so if we truly desire student success, then we can't just talk the talk, we must walk the walk.

Mike Johnson

It was well overdue for the government to revisit the School Act. The direction the provincial government proposes to go matches the changes it has been making to the curriculum.

The proposed changes allow for more freedom to interpret the new act, which allows for flexible interpretations on the rules of instruction. It seems to have a real focus on the students and less on minor administrative restrictions. It is great to see a larger shift towards being learner-centred, focusing on citizenship, and helping to build competencies. Students will have a real chance to gain more life skills by gaining hands-on experience outside of a typical classroom setting.

Caution has to be used in terms of flexible schedules, as this could set some students up for failure, but we will have to take things slowly and just remember it is for the students.

Gerry Martins

As part of the provincial government's plans to "transform education" into the 21st century, it intends to replace the current School Act, which is full of lengthy, complicated, outdated provisions, many of which are too prescriptive and/or in conflict. I welcome this initiative; however, the new legislation must:

• Strengthen the role of publicly elected school boards that are connected to their community and are in the best position to provide excellent education to every child and create healthy, better-educated communities;

• Augment the current funding framework to include the principles of adequate, stable and predictable funding for both operating and infrastructure costs;

• Champion and strengthen a universal publicly funded education system through its three dimensions — the public schools, the francophone schools and the separate schools — both Catholic and Protestant;

• Be less prescriptive and more flexible and enabling to allow for more innovative and creative programming and teaching opportunities suitable in the 21st century.

Morag Pansegrau

The revised School Act must include the following which will ensure that boards can deliver locally desired, quality courses and programs in a timely manner to all students: the right of residents to elect school boards; flexibility to offer courses and programs that reflect student needs and parental choice, including special needs programs; the right to hire the superintendent and staff and to bargain locally; and sufficient, sustainable and predictable funds.

Funding, which is not in the current act, must be included. There must be a legal commitment from government to give funds to: meet the program needs of all students, including special needs students; provide full-time kindergarten if parents wish; transport students; maintain and operate buildings; build new schools and modernize older schools; and pay staff. If schools are to provide non-educational support services for students in need, there must be additional funds. Funding must be received in the spring so schools can plan for next year's classes.

Joan Trettler

The goal of public education should be to provide all students with a broad education. Students should be exposed to a wide variety of learning situations and subjects. They need to have a solid base of knowledge, skills and attributes so they are flexible and able to have choices as they become adults. Indications from information such as Inspiring Action, a government study, seem to suggest that students will specialize earlier in their education.

My hope is that the new School Act will provide both breadth and depth for students, as education needs to be enabling rather than limiting. We are preparing students for a future that is somewhat unknown, so the need for a strong basic education is critical.

If the School Act increases expectations regarding the services available in schools, then the necessary resources need to be provided in order to meet them. Idealism needs to be connected to reality.

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