CALL TO ACTION:
Turn the tables on LaGrange's desperate attempt to manufacture agreement
On July 9, 2021 Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange announced the launch of the Minister's Parent Advisory Council as the ostensible “voice of parents in Alberta.”
If you know this government's track record, and we do, this is a desperate attempt to manufacture consent to ram through their policies to further undermine public education.
It is actually a political strategy to "manage participation" (Kendrick, 2021).
The "consultation" is merely a guise to appear engaged but their track record shows dissent will not be accepted.
This is the party of "earplugs" and ignoring constituents' concerns. This is an ideological cover to circumvent accountability and cherry-pick voices who uphold the UCP's agenda to privatize and erode K-12 education in Alberta.
It's not that communication with the Minister isn't already happening — it's that she isn't listening. Parents across this province have already been communicating with this government: through ignored surveys, thousands of dismissed emails, province-wide protests, Facebook pages that garnered tens of thousands of supporters, and the Alberta School Councils Association. School councils and parent volunteers on these councils are already legislated as the voice of parents but they are continually being ignored. We do not believe LaGrange's council will be an open, transparent or representative process; 94% of Alberta's students attend public schools, which if it were to be reflected in the advisory council would claim 37 of the 40 spots at the table.
We will not set the stage for her to claim that this initiative is anything more than shopping around for opinions like she shops for school supplies.
So what now?
We turn the tables. We must take back our public education, and ensure that sham consultations are not used to create the illusion of parent engagement.
Now is not the time to abstain. Time and time and time again we've seen this government ram through their harmful education policies. Now is time for civil disruption.
How you can take action:
Support Our Students is also concerned about the requirement for participating parents to sign a confidentiality agreement. SOS has always been an advocacy organization that operates IN public FOR the public. As such, confidentiality agreements are unacceptable for any public consultations.
Apply.
Take your spot.
Then hand it right back to her with all your receipts ……
We hope you will all join us in turning the tables and taking back public education in this province. Together we can use this as an opportunity to say that Alberta parents will not be lured into manufactured consent.
Join Us.
#TurnTheTablesABEd
Reference:
Kendrick, A. (2021). Policy as slogan: Re-imagining the ‘battle cry’ for entrepreneurship. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies, 2(2), 83-94. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.29252/johepal.2.2.83
If you know this government's track record, and we do, this is a desperate attempt to manufacture consent to ram through their policies to further undermine public education.
It is actually a political strategy to "manage participation" (Kendrick, 2021).
The "consultation" is merely a guise to appear engaged but their track record shows dissent will not be accepted.
This is the party of "earplugs" and ignoring constituents' concerns. This is an ideological cover to circumvent accountability and cherry-pick voices who uphold the UCP's agenda to privatize and erode K-12 education in Alberta.
It's not that communication with the Minister isn't already happening — it's that she isn't listening. Parents across this province have already been communicating with this government: through ignored surveys, thousands of dismissed emails, province-wide protests, Facebook pages that garnered tens of thousands of supporters, and the Alberta School Councils Association. School councils and parent volunteers on these councils are already legislated as the voice of parents but they are continually being ignored. We do not believe LaGrange's council will be an open, transparent or representative process; 94% of Alberta's students attend public schools, which if it were to be reflected in the advisory council would claim 37 of the 40 spots at the table.
We will not set the stage for her to claim that this initiative is anything more than shopping around for opinions like she shops for school supplies.
So what now?
We turn the tables. We must take back our public education, and ensure that sham consultations are not used to create the illusion of parent engagement.
Now is not the time to abstain. Time and time and time again we've seen this government ram through their harmful education policies. Now is time for civil disruption.
How you can take action:
- Apply for the Parent Advisory Council here.
- We remind supporters that neither SOS Alberta nor the Albertans Reject Curriculum Draft Facebook page has formal memberships and as such you are able to check NO for the question."Are you a member of an Education Organization
- Record your application with either a screenshot of the application or of the confirmation email
- Share on social media that you have applied and use the hashtag #TurnTheTablesAbEd
- Send a copy to [email protected] so we can track the number of SOS Champion applicants/disrupters
- Finally, and this is the important part: Should you be offered a role, that you DECLINE the position under the premise that the consultation process will not be fully public and thus not a true representation of Alberta parents. The Minister's Parent Advisory Council Fact Sheet, July 2021 (alberta.ca) clearly states: "we do not replace members who withdraw from the council."
Withdrawing from the council achieves two things:
- It removes the ability for the government to claim that the mass participation is a positive reflection on their governance
- Makes a clear and loud statement that the general public in fact has no confidence in this government's ability to engage parents in a transparent way, and in good faith.
Support Our Students is also concerned about the requirement for participating parents to sign a confidentiality agreement. SOS has always been an advocacy organization that operates IN public FOR the public. As such, confidentiality agreements are unacceptable for any public consultations.
Apply.
Take your spot.
Then hand it right back to her with all your receipts ……
We hope you will all join us in turning the tables and taking back public education in this province. Together we can use this as an opportunity to say that Alberta parents will not be lured into manufactured consent.
Join Us.
#TurnTheTablesABEd
Reference:
Kendrick, A. (2021). Policy as slogan: Re-imagining the ‘battle cry’ for entrepreneurship. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies, 2(2), 83-94. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.29252/johepal.2.2.83