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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 31, 2022 In response to recent revelations that the Minister of Education has approved new charter school applications without public awareness or consultation, Support Our Students (SOS) Alberta delivered the attached letter last week to the boards of the public, separate and francophone school authorities of Alberta through the Alberta School Boards Association (ABSA). Our letter calls on them to make public any charter school notifications they are legally entitled to and to commit to leading public consultations in the future. With the provincial government supporting charter school growth through the Choice in Education Act (Bill 15) which allows new charter school applications to bypass public school board adjudication, Albertans, more than ever, are in need of proactive leadership by Public, Separate and Francophone School Boards to protect our public education system. Section 24 of the Education Act still requires the Minister to at least notify school boards of proposed charter school applications. We need to leverage this remaining tool of public accountability to monitor diversion of public funds to the private charter system. “It is imperative that the public be informed. We do not want our neighbourhood public schools where all children are welcome, to be taken over by special interest charter schools where only a select group have access. We call on school boards to provide transparency of charter applications to ensure broad public consultation can occur.” -Medeana Moussa, Executive Director of Support Our Students Alberta Quick Facts:
Letter sent to Alberta School Boards Association follows: _____ Support Our Students Alberta Foundation P.O. Box 75028 CAMBRIAN Calgary AB, T2K 6J8 (La version française suit la présente version anglaise) 21 January, 2022 Alberta School Boards Association 1200, 9925 109 St Edmonton, AB T5K 2J8 RE: PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND CONSULTATION OF CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS Boards of the Public, Separate and Francophone School Authorities of Alberta, Albertans have become aware of charter school applications recently approved by the Minister of Education. These charter school applications were conspicuously lacking in general public awareness and consultation intended by legislation; as you are aware, pursuant to Section 24 of the Education Act, the Minister shall “provide notice of the application for a new charter school and the proposed programming to every board of a public or separate school division and Francophone regional authority.” School boards have the responsibility to make public any notifications of charter school applications they may receive from the Minister and initiate and lead robust public consultations surrounding the impacts such a charter school would have, if approved, on the public education system. More charter school applications are very likely to be under current consideration of the Minister without general public knowledge and similarly lacking robust public consultation. Support Our Students Alberta calls upon all boards of Public, Separate and Francophone School Authorities of Alberta to make public any notifications of charter school applications they may have received, or alternately, confirm that no charter school notifications have been received, within a timely manner of notification by the Minister of Education and commit to leading public consultations moving forward. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your response. Sincerely, Medeana Moussa Executive Director Support Our Students Alberta -- 21 janvier 2022 Association des commissions scolaires de l’Alberta 1200, 9925 109 St Edmonton, AB T5K 2J8 OBJET : NOTIFICATION ET CONSULTATION PUBLIQUES DES DEMANDES D'ÉCOLES À CHARTE Conseils des autorités scolaires publiques, séparées et francophones de l'Alberta, Les Albertains ont pris connaissance des demandes d'écoles à charte récemment approuvées par le ministre de l'Éducation. Comme vous le savez, en vertu de l'article 24 de la Loi sur l'éducation, le ministre doit "aviser chaque conseil scolaire d'une division scolaire publique ou séparée et chaque autorité régionale francophone de la demande de création d'une nouvelle école à charte et de la programmation proposée". Les conseils scolaires ont la responsabilité de rendre public tout avis de demande d'école à charte qu'ils peuvent recevoir du ministre et d'initier et de diriger de solides consultations publiques sur les impacts qu'une telle école à charte aurait, si elle était approuvée, sur le système d'éducation publique. Il est très probable que d'autres demandes d'écoles à charte soient actuellement examinées par le ministre sans que le grand public en soit informé et sans qu'il n’y ait eu de consultation publique rigoureuse. Support Our Students Alberta demande à tous les conseils d'administration des écoles publiques, séparées et francophones de l'Alberta de rendre publiques toutes les notifications de demandes d'écoles à charte qu'ils ont reçues, ou alternativement, de confirmer qu'aucune notification d'école à charte n'a été reçue, en temps opportun après notification par le ministre de l'Éducation et de s'engager à diriger les consultations publiques à l'avenir. Nous vous remercions de votre attention et demeurons dans l’attente de votre réponse. Sincèrement, Medeana Moussa Directrice générale Support Our Students Alberta -30- Media inquiries about this release can be directed at: Wing Li (she/her) Communications Director [email protected] Comments are closed.
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Support Our Students Alberta is a non-partisan public education advocacy organization with chapters across Alberta. We are run by passionate volunteers and community donations.
Media and press comment requests: [email protected] SOS acknowledges that we advocate in Treaties 6, 7 & 8, traditional territory of the Cree, Blackfoot, Metis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene and Ojibway/Saulteaux/Anishinaabe. We are grateful to work on their land and we pledge that this organization will actively work to end systemic racism and pursue truth and reconciliation. © 2023 Support our Students Alberta Foundation
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