Highlights from the Legislature
Shelley Svidal, ATA News
Education issues have surfaced regularly in question period since MLAs returned to the legislature following a one-week break. Below are highlights of some of the exchanges that took place from March 2 to March 12, 2009.
English-as-a-Second Language Programs
March 2—Teresa Woo-Paw (PC—Calgary-Mackay) asked Minister of Education Dave Hancock whether he would introduce reporting mechanisms and/or audit schools and school boards to ensure they use English-as-a-second-language funding for English-as-a-second-language programs. Hancock replied that the government gives school boards a global budget, which takes into account the number of English-as-a-second-language students they have. "What we don’t do is tell the school boards how to apply those funds, and we would be reluctant to do that unless it could be shown that they were not achieving the outcomes," Hancock replied. "We are developing a piece of the accountability pillar which will tell us whether we’re achieving those outcomes, and if we find that’s not successful, we will consider changing the funding to fix it."
Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans
March 4—Teresa Woo-Paw (PC—Calgary-Mackay) asked Minister of Education Dave Hancock whether he expects the Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans Steering Committee to solve the problems of today’s education system. "There are issues, obviously, but our committee is about tomorrow, about the long term," Hancock replied. Woo-Paw asked Hancock whether it is wise to conduct the dialogue at a time of economic uncertainty. "A time of economic uncertainty is a time when you invest in looking to the long term . . . so you can . . . have your citizens ready to engage in the opportunities that they have for tomorrow," Hancock replied. Woo-Paw asked Hancock whether the dialogue is a "roundabout way" to eliminate school boards and establish a super board. "No," Hancock replied. "[T]he discussion will be about the future of education, and obviously part of that will be . . . the appropriate governance structure. Form will follow function."
Provincial Achievement Tests
March 10—Harry Chase (LIB—Calgary-Varsity) asked Minister of Education Dave Hancock why, if he is opposed to ranking schools on the basis of their provincial achievement test results, he releases the results each year "under the pretense of accountability." Hancock replied that the Fraser Institute, which produces the rankings, requests the results each year under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Chase asked Hancock how publishing the results holds schools and teachers accountable or improves student performance. Hancock replied that Alberta Education neither ranks schools nor publishes the results; it simply provides the results to school boards. He added that he has suggested the freedom of information act be amended to prohibit the results’ release. Chase asked Hancock to admit that the $5 million his ministry spends each year on Grade 3 achievement tests does not provide good value for money. Hancock replied that his ministry spends approximately $540,000 each year to administer Grade 3 achievement tests and approximately $5 million each year to administer all achievement tests.
March 11—Harry Chase (LIB—Calgary-Varsity) asked Minister of Education Dave Hancock why the achievement test results of First Nations, Métis and Inuit students are not released to the Fraser Institute but those of English-as-a-second-language students and students with special needs are. Hancock replied that the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act "protects against people who could be identified if they’re in a group that’s so small that by releasing the results, they could be personally identified. ... My preference would be not to release the information in the manner in which it’s being utilized but to use the information for the improvement of the school system in the way we do release it to the school jurisdictions." Chase asked Hancock to commit to exempting English-as-a-second-language students and students with special needs from writing achievement tests. "I’m absolutely open to talking about whether we’re doing assessment in the most effective way possible and, if it’s demonstrable that we’re not, to moving to more effective ways of doing it," Hancock replied. Chase asked Hancock to commit to not including the results of English-as-a-second-language students and students with special needs in school averages. Hancock replied that the Fraser Institute, not Alberta Education or school boards, publishes the results. "They [the Fraser Institute] use them inappropriately, and I’ve said that over and over in the public," he added.
School Bus Safety
March 3—Darshan Kang (LIB—Calgary-McCall) asked Minister of Transportation Luke Ouellette whether he would implement legislation requiring school buses to drop off children at their driveways rather than forcing them to cross secondary highways. Ouellette replied that Alberta Transportation was investigating a recent school bus-related accident near Millarville that killed a seven-year-old boy. "We will do what’s necessary," Ouellette said. Kang asked Minister of Education Dave Hancock whether he would work with school boards to implement best practices for school bus safety. Hancock replied that he always emphasizes school bus safety in his discussions with board chairs and superintendents. "In the end it comes down to drivers on the road being careful and being aware that at certain times of the day our buses are out with our children and that we should be paying attention," he said. Kang asked Hancock whether he would provide boards with targeted funding to address school bus safety concerns. Hancock replied that Alberta Transportation had already given boards funding to outfit school buses in accordance with the recommendations of Ensuring the Safety of Our Children, the government’s October 2008 report on school bus safety.
Also In the News