Before this next election, of which I will be an employee by the way,  I am asking anyone with small, school age children to think twice before voting for Jim Prentice and his PC government.  Why?  Because,  unless we start trying to change 40 years of power now our children are going to pay.

Ever since Ralph Klein left the party, our education system has continually gone down hill.  They have seen nothing wrong with taking HUGE amounts from Education and allocating it to their “friends” in order to make more money.  Their “friends”, whether they admit it or not, are the big corporations they didn’t bother to tax.  But that’s just another side of the coin, I am talking about education and our children.

In the past few years we have seen this government, time and time again, take from Education without even a second thought.  Sure, they offer funding for teachers and schools, the offer to build more schools, they promise big things but at the same time they tell School Boards to take a cut.  By doing this, they are simply trying to take the onus off them and have us blame the school division.  I have written letters to my MLA only to be told to contact the School Board or the Minister of Education.  I am not going to go to the School Board because it’s because of the budget they are in the shape they are in.  I contact the Minister of Education and am told to contact the Finance Minister or my MLA.  I contact the Finance Minister and am told to contact the Minister of Education, my MLA or my School Board.  When I finally contact the school board (which I didn’t want to do in the first place) they are apologetic but tell me to talk to the MLA or the Minister of Education because their hands are tied.  The school boards can do  nothing but make cuts based on what the government tells them.  For this reason, they cut from non-essential (for lack of a better word) services meaning Special Ed is always one of the first hit.  Even though Special Ed is important, these students DO NOT make up the majority therefore they are hit hard.  By cutting here they are also cutting other services such as Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Counselling, Education Assistants, etc.  Every child will be affected in one way or another.    The government was so happy to announce that 12,000 new students would be coming into the system come September, they were also happy to announce the building of new schools, but they never mentioned what would happen if these cuts go though.   To break it down without going into great detail, it basically looks like this: budget cuts=less class rooms=larger class sizes=less EAs=less one on one=less attention given to teaching=more stress put on teachers=higher chances of burnout=less teachers=more stress on the school board to provide remedies=school closures.

Cutting of Special Ed programs also means that children who deserve an education (no matter where they are on the spectrum or what their issues are) are not getting the type of education they deserve.  They lose not only their chance to learn, but they lose their rights and most importantly their dignity.  No one deserves any of this.  Sure, children who really need an assistant will get one (and I really hope they do) but that may mean that those with lesser issues may have to go without and that’s not fair either.  These cuts go against the Charter of Freedom and Rights in which it reads that everyone has the right to an education and has the right to be treated equally.

It is for this reason I am asking all my friends and relatives in Alberta with young school age children to really think twice about voting PC.  I am not Right Wing by any means but even the Wild Rose Party values education more than the PCs.  The NDP have a very strong platform for education and family values so if you lean either way then vote.  Everyone needs to vote anyway, but if you are the parent of a young child please think twice about voting PC or your children will pay for it in the end.

Thank you.  Tanya is outta here.