Educational Issues of Current Concern

Greetings!

The legislative assembly  debated Motion 503 yesterday afternoon, 2009 03 16,  at 1700, with the vote taking place at 1755. Sponsored by Genia Leskiw (PC—Bonnyville–Cold Lake), the motion urged the government “to eliminate provincial achievement tests for grade three students and consider alternative assessments for learning.” You are able to watch or listen to the archived debate here.

The debate about Motion 503 begins at 3:29:22 on the time scroll.

I attended the legislature and observed the debate along with about twenty other local presidents and interested ATA members and ATA president F rank Bruseker, to show our support of the motion. The motion passed with a vote of 29 in favour and 18 opposed. Afterwards we met with Genia Leskiw and the Honourable Dave Hancock, Minister of Education in his office where he talked about the importance of the motion and the need for discussion moving forward in the future.

The voting breakdown was as follows:

Both of the MLAs representing Clearview's ridings were absent from the debate and the vote.

Two cabinet ministers did vote in favour of Motion 503. Below are the names of the 29 MLAs who voted in favour of the motion as recorded in Votes and Proceedings:

The Honourable Cindy Ady, Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation and MLA for Calgary-Shaw

Rob Anderson, MLA for Airdrie–Chestermere

Manmeet Bhullar, MLA for Calgary-Montrose

Guy Boutilier, MLA for Fort McMurray–Wood Buffalo

Neil Brown, MLA for Calgary-Nose Hill

Pearl Calahasen, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake

Harry Chase, MLA for Calgary-Varsity

Jonathan Denis, MLA for Calgary-Egmont

Arno Doerksen, MLA for Strathmore-Brooks

Wayne Drysdale, MLA for Grande Prairie-Wapiti

Doug Elniski, MLA for Edmonton-Calder

Heather Forsyth, MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek

The Honourable George Groeneveld, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and MLA for Highwood

Kent Hehr, MLA for Calgary-Buffalo

Broyce Jacobs, MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner

Art Johnston, MLA for Calgary-Hays

Dar shan Kang, MLA for Calgary-McCall

Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake

Brian Mason, Leader of the New Democrat Opposition and MLA for Edmonton Highlands-Norwood

Len Mitzel, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat

Rachel Notley, MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona

Verlyn Olson, MLA for Wetaskiwin-Camrose

Bridget Pastoor, MLA for Lethbridge-East

Dave Quest, MLA for Strathcona

George Rogers, MLA for Leduc-Beaumont-Devon

Raj Sherman, MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark

Kevin Taft, MLA for Edmonton-Riverview

Greg Weadick, MLA for Lethbridge-West

Teresa Woo-Paw, MLA for Calgary-Mackay

The following MLAs voted against the motion:

·       Ken Allred, MLA for St Albert

·       Naresh Bhardwaj, MLA for Edmonton-Ellerslie

·       The Honourable Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit and MLA for Calgary-North West

·       Robin Campbell, MLA for West Yellowhead

·       Cal Dallas, MLA for Red Deer-South

·       The Honourable Ray Danyluk, Minister of Municipal Affairs and MLA for Lac La Biche–St Paul

·       Alana DeLong, MLA for Calgary-Bow

·       Kyle Fawcett, MLA for Calgary-North Hill

·       The Honourable Yvonne Fritz, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and MLA for Calgary-Cross

·       The Honourable Dave Hancock, Minister of Education and MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud

·       Fred Horne, MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford

·       The Honourable Mary Anne Jablonski, Minister of Seniors and Community Supports and MLA for Red Deer-North

·       Jeff Johnson, MLA for Athabasca–Redwater

·       The Honourable Ron Liepert, Minister of Health and Wellness and MLA for Cal gary-West

·       Thomas Lukaszuk, MLA for Edmonton-Castle Downs

·       Frank Oberle, MLA for Peace River

·       The Honourable Rob Renner, Minister of Environment and MLA for Medicine Hat

·       Tony Vandermeer, MLA for Edmonton-Beverly–Clareview

This does not mean the grade 3 PAT exams are a thing of the past, but it does mean discussions will be held about their use, validity, and format in the future.

Ken Hoekstra

President, Clearview Teachers' Local 33