Get out the word!

We need to do as much as possible in the next couple of days to build the Saint John Rally for Choice in Education in King’s Square, Saint John, at noon on Tuesday March 25.

Talk to your friends, families, and co-workers. Use your networks. Build a contingent from your organization or group and bring a banner. Make some signs that let this government know the importance of education for New Brunswick children.

For updates or to get involved check out the Facebook page or email kawfolks@gmail.com.

Below the fold is a copy of a press release that was sent out to New Brunswick media:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Opponents of “one size fits none” education plan call for “Tintamarre” in Saint John
on Tues. March 25

SAINT JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK (Mar. 21/0 — A group of local parents and other concerned citizens are planning a rally and “tintamarre” at King’s Square in Saint John on Tues. March 25 at noon. Organizers are calling the event the “Saint John Rally for Choice in Education.”

Tintamarre is a word of Acadian French origin meaning “clangor” or “din,” and that’s exactly what organizers hope will happen at King’s Square on Tuesday. Inspired by the success of a similar rally in Sackville on March 19, the group is asking supporters to show up with their families, friends, noisemakers and signs in order to demonstrate their concern about the provincial government’s plan to impose a “one-size-fits-none” education on the children of New Brunswick.

“This is really a grass-roots initiative,” said spokesperson Tim Jackson. “A group of parents got together to share their frustration with this government, and things started to fall into place. And there are other groups like ours all over the province.”

Jackson outlined some of the parents’ concerns: “It seems to us that Minister Kelly Lamrock had already decided to scrap early immersion, I don’t know why. But those commissioners gave him the report he wanted even though they had to ignore the evidence to do it. And then he released it on a Friday before the March break!”

He continued, “We see our kids thriving. We know how well French immersion is working. Yes there are problems. There is streaming, because there are not enough resources to keep kids who could learn in French, but who may have other challenges, in the system. But the answer isn’t to destroy a strong, successful programme. Instead, we have to invest in it and make resources available so that any child in New Brunswick who could benefit from early immersion has the opportunity. We aren’t there yet, but to just give up doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s not just that we support early French immersion,” said Lisa Weir, another parent in the group. “We are also rallying for the children who want to continue their education in English. The issue is really choice: this government is trying to force our children into a particular direction based on a flawed report with no regard to the needs of the children themselves.”

Jackson echoes these concerns. “It just doesn’t make sense. We really stand out nationally as the only bilingual province. Our education system is a model, and it attracts people to settle here who want a choice of educational opportunities for their children. And this government wants to throw that away.”

Weir, founder of a Facebook group called “New Brunswick Parents for Choice in Education,” is angry at the thought that her child, who is challenged by profound hearing loss and other disabilities, may be forced this coming September into an intensive French programme, and with no resources in place. “I have asked the Minister repeatedly what kinds of resources will be available for children like my daughter and have received no answers. Because he doesn’t know. I don’t think they even thought about children with different needs when they came up with this plan. Every day my daughter comes home from school exhausted with the effort of trying to understand English. She works very hard. And now they are trying to force her to go to school in another language, with no thought or planning about her situation? This will not be tolerated.”

Jackson, Weir and others like them are hoping the noisy “tintamarre” will help get their message heard.

This rally is one of several leading up to a demonstration planned outside the Provincial Legislature on Thursday, March 27.

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For further information contact
Tim Jackson, 674-1597, tjackson@nb.sympatico.ca
Lisa Weir, 633-8445, kawfolks@gmail.com
http://educationinnb.wordpress.com