Ok, not so much this week.  Cara came and babysat so I could go to a City Ward- Let’s Talk Meeting.  Pretty sad that it’s the first time in probably a year that we’ve had a babysitter and we go to a city meeting.    It’s amazing how much more interest I have in politics after battling the government over EFI.  Anyway we have a new city council and there are far too many issues that smell bad in this city.  There’s the 2 year sick leave policy for city employees that the city is proposing, a decaying water system- we still have wooden pipes in some areas, issues with garbage collection, pension board lawsuit, coziness between the city and developers.  Anyway, thanks to Cara, I was able to go and got to have my voice heard.  It also helped that there were no seats left and I ended up sitting on a bench with the mayor and the city employee who was taking notes.  I got to comment directly to them about my concerns.  Oh and I showed everyone the water that I collected in August  http://blog.canadianparents.com/sarahnb/2008/08/25/smartest-city-vs-dumbest-city/ 

Do you ever have a time when you just want to make things all better for someone?

I have a friend who is going through such turmoil right now and there’s  not much I can do to help.  I really want to fix the issues at hand and knock some sense into some people.  It seems that the more honest you are, the more you get punished for going about things the right way.  I wish the whole situation was sorted out because it really isn’t fair and she doesn’t deserve this agony.

posting this political cartoon.

Our missing Premier, Shawn Graham finally showed his face yesterday on the French Second Language debate.  Yup he was there for the big announcement .  This article makes it look like he actually had something to do with the decision.  Not really though.  He’s hidden behind his minister of education, ignored letters and emails and refused to answer to the music.  Sounds like a coward to me.  I’ve never been involved in politicas and up until now I never believed in voting for a party but for the person who represents your concerns the best.  I can say with out a doubt that I will not vote Liberal in 2010.  A cowardly Premier and an MLA who lies to me.  Hmmm how do I get a Conservative membership?

Minister Lamerock has announced his new plan for French Second Language in New Brunswick.  It’s not our desired outcome but it’s much better than the plan layed out in March.  The new entry point is grade three.

It’s still a messy situation for parents of kids entering grade one if their neighborhood school does not have immersion.  It also doesn’t work for families who move in and out of the province.

For more on the topic, check out the blogs listed on my blogroll to the left. Immersion delayed, La Maison, The Independant.

While we didn’t acheive the ideal outcome, I’m pretty proud to have been involved in my first political lobbying.   It’s a great example to show the kids.  How ordinary people can affect change and to stand up for what you beleive in.   And I don’t think the fight is over. 

So Cara and I were in court today for the Judicial Review on the FSL decision.

It was very interesting to see how a court case works although i missed a lot of it.  I had the little one I look after with me so we were out in the hall quite a bit.

Here’s the latest news on the topic. 

IN THE NEWS
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/315222  Lamrock, Dube clash over content of e-mail exchange
 
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/315094  Proof is in the e-mails: education critic
 
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/315207  Liberal love-in loses lustre
 
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/315100  Leader of the pack
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/315115  2 Letters | Government can’t hide behind consultants & Speaking out on behalf of teachers who can’t
 
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/315113   2 Letters | Liberal MLAs: Take a stand and Ministers part of silent ‘majority’
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/article/315247 Family reconsiders moving to New Brunswick & Speaking out on behalf of teachers who can’t
 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/06/04/nb-french-challenge.html

Oh and Cara was interviewed on CTV and there’s a shot of me and my butt (yikes) going in to the court room.  I forgot the press would be there.

PARENTS WELCOME EFI JUDICIAL REVIEW HEARING
 
Saint John (New Brunswick) – June 4, 2008 – Parents across the province today are welcoming the judicial review hearing against the elimination of Early French Immersion (EFI) being held at the Court of Queens Bench in Saint John.
 
A group of parents retained lawyer Thomas Christie to argue on their behalf that the Minister of Education rushed through the changes to the French Second Language (FSL) education program without engaging in a reasonable period of public consultation. They believe that the Minister also showed no consideration for the impact on families who had already registered their children for Grade 1 EFI starting September 2008.
 
Lawyers representing both the Department of Education and parents seeking a delay to the FSL program changes will present their legal briefs to the Court. Both sides have submitted affidavits to support their cases, including three from parents whose kindergarteners were due to start EFI this fall.
 
One of those included the Woodstock-based Marcoux family. They are a francophone family who, with the elimination of EFI, will no longer able to access French language education for their children.
 
The group of parents believe that even if the judge rules against them, the case has represented an important opportunity for keeping debate on the FSL program changes alive.
 
“Going to court has been a last resort for parents who are dismayed at the elimination of Early French Immersion and the other changes made by the government to the French Second Language programming in our province,” said Tim Jackson, one of the parent-organizers behind the Judicial Review. “Even if the judge does not find that the government has broken the law, we still believe it has a moral obligation to consult broadly with stakeholders for a change of this magnitude to the education system. Such a disregard for consultation and due process is a consequence of both the current government’s attitude to consultation and flaws in the New Brunswick Education Act.”
 
The parents also believe the issue goes beyond simply reinstating EFI this fall.
 
“We hope that the judicial review process will uphold the rights of New Brunswick children and parents to have choice in education not only for September 2008 but beyond 2008 as well,” said Paula Small, one of the parents who submitted an affidavit to the hearing. “Many parents have come forward to voice their support to us in this process. We must continue to work with the government to ensure choice is returned permanently in New Brunswick’s education policy.”
 
The group has established a Fund for donations to offset legal costs of the case. Information on how to donate and on the broader issues can be found at www.educationnb.org.
 
-30-
For more information, please contact:
 
Tim Jackson
tjackson@nb.sympatico.ca
(506) 674-1597 or (506) 476-0951

Looks like MR Lamrock had the tables turned on him today .

Immersion cuts hit a sour note with diva

Last Updated: Friday, May 23, 2008 | 2:50 PM AT An international opera star is lending her voice to the fight over early French immersion in New Brunswick.

About 300 students and parents welcomed soprano Measha Brueggergosman into a Grade 5 classroom at the Park Street Elementary School in Fredericton on Friday.

An alumna of the school, Brueggergosman, 30, helped launched a new music program, but her message wasn’t just about the arts in education.

“It’s quite amazing to be able to come back and sing with these kids and know, at least for the time being, there’s still French immersion here,” Brueggergosman said.

Brueggergosman went through the French immersion program, which is slated to be eliminated in September, at Park Street Elementary School.

French immersion and music are the two elements of her early education that shaped who she is today, said the singer.

Brueggergosman was at the school promoting a new “music in math” program that is meant to help engage students engage with learning through the arts.

The cross-subject instruction keeps students engaged, said Education Minister Kelly Lamrock.

“What you’re seeing today is that you can use music and art to create a more engaging classroom that’s also teaching math skill, literary skills, so the kids are far more engaged than sitting still in a chair,” Lamrock said.

Pushed back to Grade 5

The new program comes as part of the province’s efforts to inject more resources into music, art and physical education. The lengthened class times that will be provided to the subjects come partly because of the province’s elimination of its early French immersion program.

Beginning in September, parents will no longer be able to register their children into the early French immersion program in English schools. The core French program, which required all students to take French as a mandatory single class subject, has also been pushed back until Grade 5.

Brueggergosman applauded the program but said it shouldn’t come at the expense of teaching children a second language.

“If you can add arts programs and know that’s an effective way to teach children, it’s a no-brainer that early immersion shouldn’t be cut,” Brueggergosman said.

Parents shouldn’t give up on their fight to keep the French immersion program in New Brunswick’s English schools, Brueggergosman said.

“It doesn’t need to be cut, and the people who have the power are the voters, and they need to take that power back,” Brueggergosman said.

New Brunswick Parents Request Judicial Review of FSL Changes
 
Legal papers were filed today in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saint John seeking a judicial review of changes made to French Second Language programs following the March 14th, announcement of Education Minister Kelly Lamrock. Concerned parents across the Province have joined together and retained Fredericton lawyer, Thomas Christie, after it became clear that the Government was not willing to postpone the changes to FSL education to allow for a proper consultative process with all stakeholders.
“At no time in the FSL Commission’s process was it clear that Early French Immersion was on the chopping block,” says Tim Jackson, one of the group organizers leading the Judicial Review. “Minister Lamrock gave New Brunswickers only two weeks, one of those being March break, to look at the report and its recommendations before he implemented them fully. This is not even close to the kind of consultation period required to determine if such sweeping changes are appropriate.”
The FSL Commission Report, authored by Dr. James Croll and Mrs. Patricia Lee, neither of whom are experts in second language education, was made public on February 29th. This report has been widely criticized for its shoddy analysis of Department of Education data, the lack of statistical support for its own recommendations and bias in the report’s language. The recommendations of the report were fully implemented by the Minister on March 14th.
In addition to claiming the process has been flawed, the group makes particular note of the Minister’s commitment that disruption to children currently in the public education system would be minimized as these changes are rolled out. From what they have seen and experienced disruption to families is being felt on a number of fronts, particularly for parents of kindergarteners who were registered to enter Grade 1 French Immersion in September 2008. Examples of how these parents have been affected by this policy change are varied but include:
Their kindergarteners being forced to change schools in the 2008-2009 school year,
Siblings who will be split between different schools, and
Kindergarteners who might otherwise have qualified for enrollment in District 1 but have now missed the “francisation” program enabling them to start grade 1 in French.
Paula Small, just one of many parents with a Kindergartener registered for EFI for the 2008-2009 school year, provided an affidavit with the application for Judicial Review. “On January 21st, as requested by School District 8, I registered my daughter for EFI. On February 4th I attended an District-hosted information session on the program outlining the positive benefits of the program and its results, and a mere twenty-five days later, with almost no notice, the Minister of Education eliminated an established program which was more than three decades in the making. I was shocked. Aside from highlighting poor communication and governance processes between the Minister’s policy setting body and the District’s registration process for 2008, the rapidity of this policy implementation displays a complete disregard for a large number of citizens of this province.” stated Mrs. Small. “According to the Department of Education, parents are considered ‘partners’ in the education system. We feel that the government has effectively shut one of their major partners out of this process.”
Patrick Ryan, who recently returned to the province with his young family, also provided an affidavit with the application. “Our expectation, moving home to New Brunswick last year, was that both our children would have the opportunity to participate in Early French Immersion.  What concerns us most is the limited consultation and the lack of transparency for such an extreme upheaval to our province’s education system.”
“If neither the Minister nor our Government is going to provide New Brunswickers with due process, then we will demand it,” says Jackson. “French Second Language education is too important to New Brunswickers, culturally and economically for it to be trifled with. We would rather have had an honest and informed debate on how FSL programs should be delivered than be backed into taking legal action to getting one.”
 
The group has established a Fund for donations to offset legal costs of the case. Donations and more information can be found at www.educationnb.org.

that our paper published the other side of the EFI debate.  The comments can be read on the Telegraph Journal site.  http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/article/293282

Citizens for Educational Choice
Commentary

Citizens for Educational Choice is an umbrella group for a number of local coalitions that have formed across the province since the government initiated drastic changes in the education system on March 14, 2008. Over the past month, CEC has studied the changes and their likely outcomes. The following is the other side of the story associated with five key issues raised by the government.

File

Katie Evans, Levi Ellingwood, Nick LeBlanc, Nathan Johnson and Andrew Mott work on computers at the Saint John High School media centre. Parents concerned about recent changes to the education system argue the government is moving too quickly - and mistaking the symptoms of bad management for the causes of poor student performance.

Streaming

The government has declared the ’streaming’ effect that early French immersion has on core classrooms as the main reason for their changes. They believe that class composition issues are created because the EFI program is naturally biased in its intake of students, yet they have ignored the root causes of these issues. In fact, they are easy explained and point clearly to mismanagement of the EFI program.

The government says that because children from higher socioeconomic groups are more likely to be found in the EFI program, it is a program for “elites.” Yet in New Brunswick, as with any province, the average per capita income in urban centres is close to 40 per cent higher than in rural areas. The Department of Education provides the majority of EFI programming in urban areas. This socioeconomic difference is therefore not a result of the EFI program, it is simply a reality based on how and where the Department of Education has offered the program.

The government also blames EFI for the fact that of the 17 per cent of anglophone sector students on special education plans only 7 per cent are in EFI. Again, we simply need to look at where the resources for these children are found to see why this occurs.

The vast majority of funding for exceptional learners is funnelled into the core program. In the 2006-7 school year, after examining hundreds of applications, the Joint Committee on Classroom Composition awarded grants totaling $1,060,800 to English core program classes and just $4,080 to French immersion classes. Obviously, the core program is where these children are placed to get the support they need - it is unavailable in EFI. This has nothing to do with the EFI program itself and everything to do with resource management.

For years, the Department of Education has directed exceptional students and resources specific to them into the core program, and now the government is blaming EFI for a streaming problem that they themselves created. Studies have been calling for increasing inclusiveness in EFI for years. Based on these figures, it appears that the government has not even tried to do this. Without trying something, it’s hard to credibly conclude that it won’t work.

Unfortunately, the Minister says he cannot correct this disparity due to a lack of bilingual learning specialists to support the immersion program. “They simply don’t exist,” he claims. But why would bilingual B.Ed. graduates preparing for positions in New Brunswick specialize in the teaching of exceptional students when, for years, the government has failed to hire them?

Again, mismanagement has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We simply need to focus on encouraging bilingual education graduates to become exceptional student specialists. Given that roughly half of all UNB B.Ed. grads are bilingual, we could very quickly be populating EFI with the resources that exceptional students need. This would eliminate one root cause of the imbalanced distribution of exceptional students within the system, and would give children of all abilities an equal opportunity to benefit from early second language training.

Access to early immersion

“The fact is that, today, 60 per cent of the children in New Brunswick do not have access to early immersion.” Premier Shawn Graham made this statement, and it is recorded in the Hansard transcript of legislative proceedings for April 3, 2008.

This is simply wrong. The most recent publicly available data required to calculate level of access (2004-05) showed 57.3 per cent of Grade 2 students attended a school with early immersion. Obviously, any child attending a school offering EFI has access to the program. Additionally, in areas with multiple elementary schools, students can choose to enrol in a school that offers EFI rather than the school to which they usually would be assigned if they were entering the core program. Statistically, 20.8 per cent of all children in this situation attend core schools but have access to EFI. Thus, we see that 78.1 per cent of all children have access to EFI. The government needs to remember that not choosing a program does not mean lack of access.

Math, science and literacy

Critical to the government’s plan is the promise that under their new system, math, acience and literacy scores will improve. They claim this is due to the fact that classrooms will now contain the “peer leaders” that were previously in the EFI program. However, this claim is not supported by test results in New Brunswick.

In the francophone school system, where there is no immersion and therefore no “streaming”, PISA test scores are consistently lower than in the anglophone system. Furthermore, the superior performance of early French immersion students on PISA testing noted throughout the country is only partially explained by socioeconomic and other factors (Allen 2004), suggesting that something else about early second language training enhances performance. Researchers Black (1993) and Bialystok (2001), among others, concluded that second language instruction improves all aspects of a student’s academic performance, from creativity to critical thinking.

Although there are no meaningful achievement differences between EFI and core children in grades 2 or 4 (see the data in the recent Croll and Lee report), these differences do appear in later years. This raises the question: if the cognitive stimulation available to children in EFI is lost, where will the strong “peer influence” the government is banking on to improve overall scores in later years come from?

The “new” programming

There is no doubt core French has not worked well in developing bilingual graduates and intensive French has provided students in Grade 5 pilot programs with proficiencies not witnessed in the core program. However, our goal is to produce bilingual graduates.

The intensive French pilot initiated in the province several years ago has yet to graduate any students, so predictions surrounding the long-term success of the program are speculative at best. For the government to even consider a complete rollout of a program that has yet to complete a pilot phase is irresponsible. It is such reckless and rapid shifts in curriculum that have been identified in reports such as the Scraba report (2002) as the major cause for the failings in our system.

Other factors also put the government’s 70 per cent intermediate proficiency goal in serious doubt. The post-intensive program in Middle School offers exactly the same amount of French exposure as the old core French program, which the government claims produces proficiency in less than one per cent of graduates.

Also, one of the Croll and Lee report recommendations states, “after Grade 10, students who have chosen to study through late immersion will not be required to study their science and mathematics courses in French and that schools shall have the option of offering science and mathematics courses for late immersion students in either French or English between grades 6 through 10.” This suggests massive variation among schools in what late immersion will mean, with students having different opportunities to learn in French depending on where they live. Is this the “universal” French second language program the government claims to be creating?

Cultural and economic implications

Culturally, it took incredible vision years ago for provincial leaders to understand that for anglophone and francophone cultures in our province to live and work together, a respect for each other had to be fostered. Early French immersion has allowed children to not only learn the language but to respect it, along with the culture and the individuals within it. It is the engine that has facilitated our shift toward a truly successful multicultural province.

Economically, the planned changes have already impacted the province negatively. Families are moving to other provinces so their children can enter early immersion next fall. Companies are losing potential employees from out of province who refuse to move where their children will not be able to access early immersion. Immigrants are bypassing the province for other jurisdictions that offer their children an opportunity for early second language education. The unintended consequences of this decision will no doubt be far-reaching, and rarely do so many negative consequences become apparent so soon after a decision has been made.

This government has gone too far too quickly. We appreciate their commitment to improving math, science and literacy outcomes, but none of their changes address the root causes of our poor performance in these areas, relative to other Canadian provinces.

The only responsible thing to do at this point is postpone these changes until proper consultation with all stakeholders can take place, offering an opportunity to properly research and implement changes required to improve our education system.

As Canada’s only bilingual province, we must be a leader in innovative educational systems that incorporate the best in language instruction as well as math, science and literacy outcomes. The government does not think we can have it all.

We know we can.