Our hearts go out to Alberta’s K-12 students and their parents who continue to deal with the ongoing uncertainty and burdens related to the pandemic and the various COVID-related measures impacting K-12 education.
In the midst of these current challenges, PCE continues to advocate for strengthening choice in education in Alberta and offers the following fall updates.
Countdown to Oct 2021 school trustee elections
This fall marks one year until municipal elections, currently slated to take place October 18, 2021.
Municipal elections have a tremendous impact on education because Alberta citizens not only elect mayors and councillors, but also the school board trustees responsible for governing Alberta's 42 public school districts and 17 separate (Catholic) school districts.
School board trustees have a critically important role as they are responsible to set important policies and priorities which directly impact the experience of students and families within their district.
They also manage budgets which range from the multi-millions in some areas to more than $1 billion dollars each for Calgary Board of Education & Edmonton Public Schools.
Becoming more actively involved in school board elections is an important way to help impact the direction of Alberta’s K-12 education system. All Alberta taxpayers contribute to funding public education, meaning every citizen gets to cast a vote when it comes to school trustees in their area, regardless of whether they have children in school or not.
Let us know if you want to be involved in any way to help support PCE’s engagement in the upcoming school board trustee elections by clicking here or on the button below.
Home education funding support for children with special needs
“Funding for children with special needs whose families have chosen Home Education requires examination. Currently, there is no funding for diagnosis and supports for children with diverse learning needs under The Home Education Regulations, The Guide to Education, and the Funding Manual.”
The quote above is from a survey currently being provided through AHA (Alberta Homeschooling Association) and AHEA (Alberta Home Education Association). These two provincial home education organizations are doing important work advocating for supports for home education children with special needs.
PCE agrees that all parents should have access to funding for special needs support for their school-age children, regardless of how they choose to educate their children.
We encourage anyone who home educates children with special needs to complete one or both surveys before the deadline of November 27th, in order to assist the home education community as they press the government for these important changes:
AHA survey link (Alberta Homeschooling Association)
AHEA survey link (Alberta Home Education Association)
PCE staffing update
As of November 12, 2020, Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) does not have an Executive Director in place.
Be assured that our dedicated team of PCE Board Directors and our excellent staff will continue to fulfill the responsibilities and mandate of PCE.
PCE remains firmly committed to continuing to stand alongside parents and citizens across the province as we advocate for an excellent, quality-oriented, choice-driven education system which recognizes parental authority.
For details on how to reach PCE, please visit our website contact page.
UCP AGM
PCE recognizes that political party Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are an important way that parents can contribute to greater influence over the direction of our province, including our education system.
That said, we appreciate PCE supporters who invested time to get involved in the most recent political party AGM, which took place October 16, 17 and 24 for the United Conservative Party (UCP). We also look forward to our supporters attending AGMs for other political parties to help advocate for education choice across the political spectrum.
PCE prepared a variety of information to assist our supporters who indicated they were attending the UCP AGM, including opportunities to get to know candidates vying for Board positions, and information about policies, special resolutions, and governance resolutions at issue in this AGM.
We were grateful that 7 of the 11 candidates in contested races for the UCP Executive Board accepted our invitation to attend PCE-hosted “Virtual Meet and Greet” evenings, where candidates had the opportunity to introduce themselves and answer questions from PCE supporters.
PCE urges Alberta citizens who are concerned about the direction of education to become proactively engaged and involved in the political process. Wondering how to do so? Check out PCE’s page: Making a difference in K-12 education: How to take action in politics
IN THE NEWS
Included below are a selection of recently published articles, related to our advocacy toward an excellent, quality-oriented, choice-driven education system which recognizes parental authority.
First new charter school in 13 years could open in Alberta
CBC News, 2020.10.04
“Alberta is poised to get its first new charter school in 13 years. A group of families living in the Calmar area have received the education minister's conditional permission to open a charter school that focuses on agriculture and stewardship.” [READ MORE]
RADIO INTERVIEW: Danielle Smith interview with Patty Marler from Homeschool.today
News Talk 770, 2020.10.06
Helpful introduction to home education from Patty Marler with Homeschool.today, interviewed on Danielle Smith. [CLICK HERE TO LISTEN]
EBSCO school databases are still exposing kids to porn, NCOSE says
Christian Post, 2020.11.04
While this article is a warning call from parents in the United States, PCE has also accumulated many troubling first-hand reports of sexually explicit material being made available to K-12 students right here in Alberta, available on PCE’s website: Be Informed: Health & Sexual Education.
We urge all parents to be informed when it comes to the materials and resources being presented to their children through school.
As a non-profit organization PCE depends entirely on the donations of citizens to continue strengthening education choice in Alberta.
Consider donating today to ensure we can keep doing this important work!
Thank you to each person who helps support PCE as we advocate for excellence in education through maximum parental choice!