The Board of Trustees of Holy Spirit Catholic Schools continues to be concerned about the potential impact of Bill 2: The Education Act on publicly funded Catholic Education in Alberta. This concern is further articulated in the recent Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA) media release (which appears at the bottom of this page).
“Our board has communicated to the Minister of Education and our local MLAs our concerns with the proposed Act,” says Board Chair Sandra Dufresne. “We are strongly opposed to shared facilities and blended boards, and believe that the Education Act must reflect the primacy of the home and that parents continue to be recognized as the primary educators of their children.”
Bill 2 is expected to receive third and final reading as early as Wednesday. “To ensure that Catholic education is not compromised, we are asking our community to band together and express our concerns to the Minister and local MLAs,” says Dufresne.
- The Honourable Thomas Lukaszuk, Minister of Education, MLA for Edmonton-Castle Downs (780) 414-0705/edmonton.castledowns@assembly.ab.ca
- The Honourable Greg Weadick, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology, MLA for Lethbridge West - (403) 329-4644 / lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca
- The Honourable Evan Berger, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, MLA for Livingstone-Macleod - (403) 553-2400 / livingstone.macleod@assembly.ab.ca
- Mr. Broyce Jacobs, MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner (403) 223-0001 / cardston.taberwarner@assembly.ab.ca
- Ms. Bridget Pastoor, MLA for Lethbridge East - (403) 320-1011 / lethbridge.east@assembly.ab.ca
- Mr. Barry McFarland, MLA for Little Bow - (403) 643-2077 / little.bow@assembly.ab.ca
For more information regarding Bill 2, please access the following links: www.holyspirit.ab.ca and/or www.acsta.ab.ca
See also: Education Act Bill 2 concerns citizens
March 19, 2012
In a continued review of Bill 2: The Education Act, the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association is calling on the Minister of Education to review and make amendments to the following sections of the bill.
The ACSTA believes these sections will have long lasting effects on publicly funded Catholic education in Alberta, Catholic school boards, and Catholic schools, teachers, staff, and students. In addition, the ACSTA is encouraging Catholics to bring their concerns to the Minister of Education.
1. Shared Facilities (section 192(2))
The ACSTA is strongly opposed to facilities being shared between Catholic and Public schools and urges the Minister to recognize that Catholic schools in Alberta are unique. Every aspect of Alberta’s Catholic schools is filled with the Catholic faith, from the building structure, to the curriculum, to the recognition of Catholic Gospel values and Sacramental life. To maintain this uniqueness, Catholic schools must remain distinct entities.
2. Joining togther of School Divisions Consisting of Public School Districts, Separate School
Districts and School Divisions (section 112(1))
The ACSTA strongly believes that separate school districts are, like our Catholic schools, unique entities that must remain distinct. The ACSTA believes that a separate school division may only be comprised of separate school districts or separate school divisions and does not support the potential for “blended boards” to exist. The ACSTA supports stand alone boards.
3. Diversity and Respect Provisions
The ACSTA supports Catholic parents as the primary educators of their children. The ACSTA believes that the Education Act must reflect this primacy of the home and parents as primary teachers.
OK fine. Then let's stop the farce of providing public funding for a patriarchal, theocratic, narrowly-defined religious corporation whose avowed purpose is to advance the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church with its various questionable and controversial social and moral tenets. What other response could the ACSTA possibly anticipate? Shall we similarly start pouring public funds into Moslem, Jewish, Protestant and Hindu school systems so that they too might avoid the secular egalitarianism that underlies the very fabric of our society? Of course not - it is as inane an idea as the current bleating coming from the Catholics. Get your fingers out of the public purse, find your own money, and then do as you please - problem solved. Quit insulting our intelligence.
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