This past school year we have witnessed mounting attacks of government overreach into the lives of families and children, threatening the foundations of freedom and school choice that have long been a proud tradition in Alberta.

These attacks include:

• the abrupt closure of our province’s largest homeschooling board Wisdom/Trinity in October, negatively affecting 3,500 students

• increased threats of defunding and loss of accreditation towards independent schools

• ongoing concerns and secrecy of the curriculum rewrite

• the infiltration of ideological and discriminatory resources like the PRISM Toolkit in classrooms

• the revelation that sexually graphic material had been accessible via the government recommended and funded Alberta GSA Network

• the Minister of Education’s April edict to schools stating that parents unequivocally should not be informed of their child’s involvement in certain extracurricular activities, along with threats to codify this circumvention of parents into law

Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) has been there at every turn - informing you about changes impacting your child’s education, confronting these issues in the public sphere, and equipping you with tools to engage effectively.

Now we look to you, our grassroots membership, to join with us as we continue building momentum to fulfill our mission of ensuring an excellent, quality-oriented, and choice driven education system in our province.

There are three important ways we need your help:

1. SIGN UP!

We are excited to announce that PCE has just launched a new, more robust website with improved navigation and features to help keep people updated, informed and engaged.

When you head to the new homepage you will see a sign-up area front and centre.

Even if you have already signed up on our old site, please sign up again.

This will ensure your information is successfully inserted into our new site so you will begin (or continue) receiving our emailed blogs and newsletters.

You will notice that your postal code is now included in the sign-up area.

We are thrilled about this exciting feature of our new site, which will allow PCE to tailor communications to specific geographical locations regarding events, meetings or specific concerns in your particular area.

2. BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

While we are tremendously grateful for all the one-time donations we receive, it is difficult to rely on this funding model alone when budgeting for regular monthly expenses.

In order to continue expanding PCE most effectively we have initiated a new monthly donor page, separate from our one-time donations. Head over to our donations page and you will see a special “Monthly Donor” button below the one-time donation option. Click on this “Monthly Donor” button to go to our secure monthly donation form.

Could you commit to investing $10, $25 or $40 a month to fund the necessary growth of PCE, to ensure we can continue to effectively advocate on behalf of families across the province?

Our summer goal is to find at least 600 monthly donors to give $10/month. Could you please consider becoming one of these key monthly donors so we can continue our important work for the new school year?

Your financial support will help us inform and engage more Alberta families, many who are still unaware of the tremendous changes and challenges we currently face in our province’s education system.

Every amount helps and we THANK YOU for your support!

3. ACTION ALERT TEXT MESSAGING

Another exciting feature of our new website is “Action Alert” text messaging, which will be a powerful tool to address any time-sensitive issues.

When something happens that requires immediate, urgent response - for example, a request to phone your MLA, school board trustee or Minister of Education about an urgent issue - then we can now let you know via text message.

Get involved by scrolling down toward the bottom of the homepage and you will see “Signup to receive Action Alert text messages” to enter in your name and cell phone number.

LET’S KEEP OUR MOMENTUM BUILDING!

As we have witnessed the mounting attacks of government overreach into the lives of families and children this past school year, we know it is more important than ever to expand the reach of PCE in time for the fall.

Join us!

Let’s work together to fulfill PCE’s mandate to advocate for excellence in education, through maximum parental choice.

Help us reach our goal of 600 monthly donors and help us ensure tens of thousands of Albertans are signed up on our new site in order to stay connected, informed and engaged.

Please share this information with others you know who believe in this cause and would like to help strengthen the voice of our organization.

Thank you for partnering with us!

We promise to relentlessly continue the important work you have entrusted to us!

Sincerely,

Donna Trimble
Executive Director
Parents for Choice in Education