Interesting

editorial in the Kings County Record. It begins:

By now Education Minister Kelly Lamrock should have learned a valuable political lesson. By this point, he should have discovered that you can mess with a lot of things and still survive to stand up in the Legislature another day.

By now he should have realized that you can mess with people’s roads, you can mess with people’s taxes, you can even mess with people’s jobs and still survive, but the thing that will bring them out fighting like cornered dogs, that one thing you cannot do is mess with people’s kids.

All I can add is, grrrr!

If you aren’t reading

the comments sections after the online news articles, you’re missing half the fun. Cut and pasted from one such comment by Tyler Durden:

A list of those who support EFI removal:

• Kelly Lamrock
• Doug Willms

A partial list of those who oppose the Lamrock plan:

• The Commissioner of Official Languages, NB
• The Commissioner of Official Languages, Canada
• The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers
• Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities
• The Center for Research on Education at the Université de Moncton
• The Second Language Research Institute of Canada
• Liberal Party Riding Association Presidents in Kings-East, Tantramar, and Nigadoo-Chaleur.
• Co-Author of the Official Languages Act Robert Pichette
• Political Scientist and Liberal Party Strategist Donald Savoie
• Association Canadienne des Professeurs D’Immersion
• L’Association des enseignantes et des enseignants francophones du
• Nouveau-Brunswick (AEFNB),
• Consortium of Universities Advising the Canadian Association of Immersion Teachers
• Association Francophone des Parents du NB
• Canadian Parents for French
• Paul Zed, Liberal MP
• Saint John Mayor and City Council

Update (Apr 15/08): I have added a page that lists critics of the Lamrock plan and/or the Croll/Lee report.

Okay,

here’s my question: how can Kelly Lamrock, with a straight face, impugn the integrity of Bernard Richard, when he has himself scrapped a report that contradicted his own pre-existing position and commissioned another from a long-standing advocate of that position and a family friend? And why, when we are on the topic of integrity and ethics, is anyone still listening to Doug Willms on this issue? His mind was made up about early French immersion long ago so he is hardly impartial, and his company enjoys contracts from the Dept. of Education so he is hardly disinterested. Then there is Kelly Lamrock himself, a man who insults and dismisses those who don’t agree with him, who arrogantly refuses to listen to anyone who doesn’t parrot back his own ideas, and who is willing to trash the N.B. education system for the sake of some test scores that he thinks will ensure his electoral success in 2010.

Perhaps it’s Botox.

Hey, that’s my kid under there!

[from The Daily Gleaner]

Breaking news

Media release from the Office of the Ombudsman/Child & Youth Advocate:

Ombudsman to investigate

EFI complaints

April 3, 2008FREDERICTON (CNB) - Ombudsman Bernard Richard announced today that he is going to conduct an investigation into the numerous complaints that have been lodged with his office about the recent announcement by Department of Education to abolish Early French Immersion.

“We have received more than 200 complaints on this matter,” Richard said. “Many concerns have been raised by the complainants that I believe are worthy of further scrutiny by my office, including many questions raised about the process.

“In the interest of a thorough and fair investigation, I am recommending that the Department of Education suspend the elimination of Early French Immersion until the 2009-2010 school year,” Richard said.

Once the investigation is complete, Richard will release his findings and any recommendations that might be forthcoming.

08/04/03

MEDIA CONTACT: Ombudsman Bernard Richard, 506-453-2789 or 1-888-465-1100.