Not 1 PC candidate will attend Education Forum in Red Deer

Not one PC candidate will attend the Education Forum in Red Deer Monday night.

Kerry Towle, Christine Moore and Darcy Mykytyshyn have rejected their invitations for an all-candidates education forum.

PC candidates in Red Deer North, Red Deer South and Innisfail-Sylvan Lake can't make time to talk with parents and teachers about our children's schools.

PCs candidates are no-shows for public forums, debates and events all over the province.

Milt Williams for Red Deer Public School Board

Milt Williams 

For Red Deer Public School Board

About Milt:

• Taught for 24 years in Red Deer Public

• Store Manager of Operations for national furniture chain.

• small business Shareholder/Owner/Manager

• Married to Marianne (former teacher). Four children: John, Andrew, Daniel and James who have all attended Red Deer Public Schools.

• Successfully implemented the MicroSociety program at Aspen Heights School, where a school based society is modeled on real life.

• Awarded 2012 Coordinator of the Year at the MicroSociety International Conference held in Philadelphia, USA.

Milt's Priorities:

 Every decision must be based on what is best for the students.

 Promote open communication between parents, trustees and teachers.

 Encourage innovation that promotes learning within Red Deer Public Schools.

 Students learn by doing. To help foster this experience the District needs to build more bridges between schools, businesses and the community.

 Maximize the use of schools after hours.

 Support front line staff by ensuring they have the tools needed to educate our children.

 Have students elect a student representative who will attend board meetings and add a student’s perspective to discussions.

"Every school, a good school"

Contact Milt:

403-346-4083

h.milton.williams@gmail.com

@MiltWilliams

Milt Williams for Red Deer Public School Board on Facebook

Local autonomy

Decisions about kids should be made by the people closest to the kids. It makes little sense to me to drive the decisions further and further away from the classroom teacher, but that is exactly what is happening in education systems all over the world. More and more people outside of the classroom are garnishing more and more power over those inside the classroom. 

In Red Deer Public School District, we talk a lot about differentiated instruction and how important it is for the teacher to know their children so that they may tailor instruction to the kids needs; however, in Red Deer, we are not applying that same pedagogy to our assessment practices. Rather, we are creating more and more command and standardized assessments that are being made by people other than the classroom teacher.

Last night at the Red Deer Public School Board Trustee open forum, a small number of concerned citizens showed up to listen to each candidate. Almost every single candidate voiced their sincere concern for local governance. Time and time again, trustees echoed the sentiment that decisions must be kept locally.

I agree.

But Trustees need to understand that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. It is just as wrong for the Provincial Government to rob local School Districts of their local autonomy as it is for the School Districts to rob local autonomy from the schools. (To take this a step further: it is just as wrong for the principal to rob local autonomy from his or her teachers as it is for a teacher to rob local autonomy from their students) 

If it is irresponsible to expect a student in Grande Prairie (city in northern Alberta) to be taught in the exact same manner as a student in Lethbridge (city in southern Alberta), then we have to understand that it is assessment malpractice to expect a student at Normandeau (a school in northern Red Deer) to be assessed in the exact same manner as the student at Westpark (a school in southern Red Deer). 

Remember that the heart of local autonomy is with the child, and the best decisions for the child are made by the child in collaboration with a safe and caring adult who actually spends time with the child.