Wildrose education plan - competition

Recently the Wildrose Alliance Party has released their education plan which is largely based on the concept of open competition, which is not surprising as competition seems to be a cornerstone of many of their policies. They promise to implement "school choice" legislation.

Competition is often considered contrary to the principles of education, however healthy competition is the very foundation of our society.

Competition does make schools more responsive to the concerns of parents and the community. However it also encourages schools to spend precious education dollars on marketing and advertising. It can result in trying to recruitment of students with a "name" that might attract other students.

New Zealand has had school choice legislation since the 1980's and there is no evidence from the New Zealand experience of increase on grades or standardized test scores. It has resulted in aggressive competition between schools resulting in schools having large advertising budgets.

If this policy were ever implemented, they would need to take into consideration how to cap the spending of public dollars on marketing.

This is largely a policy that once again addresses city educational issues as rural students have little choice unless they want to drive great distances. Online education offers some choice in that students can register in any online school.

Healthy lunches

We all want our children to be health but how to get kids to eat healthy is another issue altogether. Healthy lunches should include fruits, vegetables and whole grain breads - that is basic. However there are a few things in this article and others that I do question.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/09/07/f-healthy-school-lunches.html

One is that juice is bad for kids. I really have trouble believing that we can only give our kids water and skim milk to drink.

Is it really bad if my child has a glass of orange juice or apple juice for breakfast or lunch?It has plenty of vitamin C and other nutrients, especially if it is "not from concentrate" with no sugar added. I am thinking a little bit of natural sugar may curb the craving for pop. Drinking stale, warm milk that sat in a locker for half a day may not be very appealing to a child. Have we gone to far by insisting only water and milk?

Too many drop outs in Alberta

Why do so many Alberta teens drop out? Partly its because young people believe that they can make just as much money with the oil industry with no education than with an education. While it is true that unskilled labourers are well paid in the oil patch, it is also true that when there is a down turn in the economy, they will be the first laid-off. The true "Alberta Advantage" is not for home grown Albertans. We are importing educated individuals from outside the province to fill the high paying management jobs.

"The proportion of teenagers in the 15-19 age group who were no longer in school varied from 14 per cent in New Brunswick to 26 in Alberta, the report said."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/09/07/statscan-.html#ixzz0yrdpdiny

Some career planners in schools encourage young people into the trades. This is a mistake.

"Graduates from university programs earned considerably more —75 per cent more on average — than high school or trade and vocational program graduates."

Bill 44 again!

Its time for the government to admit that this bill 44 fiasco was a mistake. They have watered down the clause to the point where it is so very vague now that it has little meaning. All this is already covered in the school act and the last thing we need is more useless legislation. If a sensitive subject such as sex education is going to be taught a letter is already sent home for parents to sign. If they don't sign it, the child will not get the information taught in the classroom, instead they will learn it from their friends in the locker room.

Bill 44 does is keep the threat of the Human Rights Act hanging over a teachers head. It is possible for a teacher to be dragged though a really nasty tribunal for nothing. The tribunal itself "is" punishment.

What all this really amounts to in the end is more paperwork. There will be more paper for parents to sign at the beginning of the year. So along with the forms for registration, field trip permission and FOIP (permission for the child picture to be taken) there will be a few more papers to sign.

The bureaucracy grows and the lawyers get richer.

"Alberta Education has identified nine courses that will require notification, including studies on religious ethics, parenting and aboriginal spiritual views."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/09/02/edmonton-bill-44-legislature-protests.html#ixzz0yPjt9jF7