EDMONTON - This weekend, on Saturday, April 2, there will be a province-wide rally calling on the UCP government to “ditch the draft” and scrap their widely-derided and deeply-unpopular elementary curriculum.
“The UCP government has been on a warpath with our vital public education system,” said Bradley Lafortune, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “In the past three years, they’ve starved public boards of necessary funding, introduced privatization via charter school expansion, and made blunder after blunder with policy for COVID-19 management and mitigation in schools.”
“However, rather than learn from their mistakes, the UCP upped the ante and continued with the disastrous roll-out of their deeply-flawed draft curriculum which has no support from teachers and administrators,” said Lafortune. “We at Public Interest Alberta join with parents, teachers and students to demand that the UCP ditch the draft.”
Julia Dalman, a co-founder of the grassroots educators’ organization the RAD Educators’ Network echoed Lafortune’s thoughts and added that educators are not comfortable piloting such a poorly-thought-out curriculum draft.
“The education of Alberta’s children is a responsibility that educators do not take lightly,” said Dalman. “As educators, we know the role that school plays in helping students make sense of the world and finding a sense of belonging within it. This draft curriculum does not meet the standard of care and ethics that is needed in order not to harm vulnerable students. There’s a reason board after board across the province has voted not to pilot this curriculum. This curriculum will fail as many teachers are not comfortable delivering it and they will continue their professional responsibility to educate in a way that respects the well being of all students. The RAD Educators Network stands with educators, parents, and students who are calling for the UCP to ditch the draft.”
Dalman added, “The UCP has heard time after time, loud and clear. It’s time to ditch the draft.”
