Warning

The government has not completely abandoned the idea of negotiating a settlement with teachers, trying to cut classroom time in exchange for lower wages.

Government officials have been heard making comments like "Its not the quantity of time that matters its quality," and "We need to consider what is necessary to learn and what is nice to learn." The latter is referring to cutting back the curriculum content.

All this does is download the financial responsibility directly onto parents and will ultimately result in a two tier education system. You can bet if this goes through a number of "programs" will come forward to fill the void because parents can't leave their children at home alone. Children in the city will likely have access to things like "Telus World of Science" camps, or "University of Alberta" camps where as rural children will not. Parents who do not have much money will simply leave their kids at home unsupervised.

One of the nice things about public education is that it brings some equality to learning. Every child has the same "opportunity" to learn. Many do not take full advantage of the opportunity but at least they have a chance. I believe education is a basic human right, which should not be pared back to put a few more dollars in the pockets of the wealthy.

Increase the taxes and provide the education!