Danielle Smith stopped in Airdrie for the second of five pre-election policy announcements, this time regarding the Provinceís education system, Feb. 2. The policy is aimed at decentralizing the education system, shifting power to local school boards.
ìThey say that they are tired of being dictated to when it comes to building new schools, hiring new teachers and choosing what their children are taught in school,î she said.
ìWe will start by directing more money to the classroom for more teachers and frontline staff.î
The Progressive Conservative (PC) government has have given more priority to big bonuses to party members and infused billions into corporate welfare instead of giving it to schools and children, Smith added.
ìThe days of PC politicians playing games with the future of our children must come to an end,î she said.
Smith later commented her government would, if elected, move away from provincial achievement tests to a form of testing that better reflects the way kids learn in 2012.
She referenced computer-assisted learning, allowing children to work at their own pace, but still grasping subject matter before advancing.
ìThey have to, in most cases, master the material before they can move onto the next unit,î she said. ìSo thatís not just getting a bare pass, itís getting 70 per cent. What happens in this kind of approach is that you can have kids who can work ahead on material that they feel more comfortable with.î
Smith said tests every three years are neglecting kids in the in-between period, allowing some to slip between the cracks.
ìWe want to catch that early so that we can give them the supports that they need,î she said.
Rocky View Schools (RVS) recently asked the Alberta School Boards Association to look into PATs and their place in todayís classrooms.
ìThereís so much creativity and innovation within the classrooms that we donít believe they are fully captured within those types of assessments,î said Greg Bass, RVSí superintendent.
He added that the Province and his division have a ìgood balanceî of local autonomy and centralized power.
Longtime PC supporter and Airdrie Alderman Allan Hunter watched the press conference and said he is torn about the upcoming election.
ìThe local PC candidates came out very clearly and said you donít get good government unless youíre in government,î he said. ìTo me thatís offensive and implies insider trading in government. Iíve seen politics affect education all across the province.î
Hunter likened the PCs to the Concordia cruise ship that sank off Italyís coast a few weeks ago.
ìTheyíre getting perilously close to the rocks,î he said.
