To those middle and high school parents who have publicly spoken about finding out their children are doing poorly due to not having a report card and the job action by teachers, I ask: have you not had an ongoing discussion with your child about how they have been doing on assignments or tests?
Have you checked with your child that he or she has been handing in assignments and homework? Have you checked that your children have been attending all of their classes? Have you emailed or called your child’s teacher to set up an appointment to discuss your child’s progress?
If you have had any or all of these conversations then there should be no surprises for parents. If students are indeed failing, their child needs to take responsibility for his or her academic achievement or lack thereof.
Do parents realize what their child’s learning environment will be like in a classroom where there are no limits on how many students with special needs can be placed in a classroom? The $30 million for the entire province to support special needs students may or may not be available in your child’s classroom or school.
Include the continuing cuts to learning assistance teachers, the increased number of individualized education programs your child’s teacher will need to follow, plan and support, and if there are educational assistants in the classroom, the time the teacher needs to spend training, scheduling and supporting the EA with students and you will have a classroom where many students are left behind.
And don’t forget the behavioural, social and emotional needs of those students who are not designated and the learning time that they will require.
How can our Liberal government in good conscience promote anti-bullying day when they have failed to address class size and composition language when they were found to have illegally stripped this language and to have removed the fundamental right of collective bargaining?
Shannon Toronitz
Brentwood Bay
