Would you like to see a "Christian Values" alternative program offered within your public school system? If you are of another religious faith, would you also like to see an alternative program that is sensitive to your faith?
This is possible and is already happening in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec. In Ontario, we also have four alternative Christian-values sensitive programs, fully funded and operating as a program of choice within public school boards of education.
Public for Alternative Community Education (P.A.C.E.) has been working with the Hamilton Board of Education to develop a traditional Judeo-Christian values school program. Children would not be taught religion, but Ministry of Education curriculum would be delivered within a classroom environment where teachers would "help the children to connect the learning in the classroom to the child's life experiences and cultural and spiritual understanding."
Legal counsel for the Board of Education finds the proposal to be "consistent with the Education Act;" however, to prevent a possible legal challenge, it feels we need to have clear support within the Education Act or its Regulations.
To be successful, these MPP's need other MPP's to hear from you. If other MPP's have heard this from their constituents, it is more likely to be successful.
"I understand that the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has a proposal for a faith alternative program. Many families have left the public school system (for home schooling or private schools) because some curriculum materials or methods of program delivery are in conflict with their values. This program promises to make it possible for the teachers to meet their expectation found within the Standards of Practice in the Teaching Profession (Ontario College of Teachers - 1999) which states:
and thus deliver curriculum in a way that is sensitive to the families attending. There are two significant benefits to this approach - (1) it better reflects society and the values found within it and, (2) studies have proven that children perform better (1.4 grade levels) within environments the families have chosen and within which they are comfortable.
This alternative education proposal has drawn some discussion about whether a school board may offer such a choice. This fall, there will be discussion at Cabinet level about programs of choice in education. The tax credit system is good in that it does provide some choice, but there are people who still cannot afford to exercise this right of choice. In addition, tax credits tend to segregate our children from the rest of the children in society. The program being considered in Hamilton will provide a spiritually-sensitive value environment for the child (the classroom), but the student still attends a school within the public system. Thus the child learns who he or she is within society. I want you to know that I believe that choice within public education is one way to improve our education system.
More information, including a copy of the Proposal, may be obtained from:
Public for Alternative Community Education, Phil Lees
P.O. Box 105, Binbrook, ON L0R 1P0
Chuck Reid, Superintendent of Education
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, (905)527-5092
P.O. Box 2558, 100 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8N 3L1
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