So this revamping of the curricula was done (I presume) solely by the newly elected NDP government in Alberta.  Alberta’s NDP government’s actions of deliberately dumbing down the curricula are blatant attempts to buy the powerful teachers’ unions votes.

The children, especially those of the working poor, are going to suffer, since they’ll be robbed of a good education and their parents won’t be able to afford to hire tutors.  This is social justice? 

Personally, I am sick of the left touting themselves as fighting for the poor.  Today’s NDP does not even closely resemble the party from years ago that was lead by leaders, Ed Broadbent and Tommy Douglas; instead they are vote buyers—and from their action—one can see that they’ll buy votes even at the expense of our children by robbing them of a decent education.  Their actions only perpetuates the poverty that they claim to be fighting, and they don’t give a damn.

Furthermore, regarding the new Alberta government dumbing down the curricula to buy the votes of the teachers’ unions—they’ve been on office for how long?
To me their actions appear to have been already on their agenda for when, if ever, they took office.  You know, the same way Dalton McGuinty made secret deals with hospital workers to give them more money (Ontario tax payers’ dollars) to get hospital workers’ votes.

What I’m worried about regarding Alberta’s NDP government is that they’ll be in power for a few years to come.  What else are they going to do to make themselves liked by the government workers at the expense of the economy—in other words, how will they be spending Alberta’s tax dollars to stay in power?  Like Ontario, will they continue to hire more and more public servants, and give them big salaries, both of which enrich their unions so that they become more and more powerful? Alberta’s NDP will probably do exactly as Ontario’s Liberal government has done, which has driven Ontario towards bankruptcy; yet the ON Liberals turn a blind eye to the economy and continuously give psu’s hefty raises and gold-plated benefits, and the money they are using is all borrowed.  They’re also finding sneaky ways to raise taxes.  In Ontario, services deteriorate and user fees rise, and the lack of quality education is not even the least of the Liberals’ concerns.

Why should Ontarians worry about what an Alberta left-winged government does?  Just look at our dollar.  Their economy affects all of us, and Alberta’s government is not the least bit interested in educating their children—tomorrow’s workforce.

Hi Bev,

Actually Inspiring Education began under the Conservative Government.  The former Education Minister, before Jeff Johnson, was in love with this stuff.  The NDP government is merely following their direction, as this plan was slated to be rolled out September 2015.

This is not a political issue, it’s a constructivist issue.  We have the same progressive approach to education under the Liberals.  Dr. Nhung Tran Davies is working really, really hard to have this plan revoked in Alberta.  She and her 19,000 signatories AGAINST progressive math programs, and the Inspiring Ed plan, is making a bit of progress.  You can check out her advocacy at http://www.albertansforeducation.com/

Hi Tara,

I hope that the doctor is successful!  Kids need good math instruction.

Thanks for letting me know which party originally hammered together Alberta’s recently mandated bad curricula! 

Tara, I beg to differ with you:  dumbing down curricula is still a way to appease our teachers’ unions who wield an enormous amount of power, and seem to be getting stronger all the time.  Our politicians want to buy their votes, so they’re quite willing to sacrifice quality in education to please them, and they are also afraid to stand up to the teachers’ unions for fear of being tarred and feathered.  Remember Ontario’s Premier Mike Harris?

Bev,

I would agree with your points here.  My point earlier was that these new progressive approaches to education seem to transcend political party lines; they have all been swayed by the constructivist wave.  It doesn’t seem to matter what political party is in office, they are all in love with this brand of rhetoric, even though it’s been around since the age of Dewey, over 150 years ago.  Ironic that in their pursuit of cutting edge curricula for our students, they’re using recycled, refabricated junk science, which has never been proven to be successful in the classroom.

This has also permeated our universities, colleges, and yes, our unions.  The union execs love this stuff, because the accountability factor is now shifted off their shoulders.  No more tests!  No more report cards!  No more curricula standards to meet!  So yes.  The educrats convince them all that this is in the best interests of the children.  Sort of like how bloodletting was a new and revolutionary procedure hundreds of years ago, and we all know how well that worked out now don’t we?

At the end of the day, though, it is the Ministry’s responsibility to ensure our education system works effectively.  So regardless of what political party is in charge, they have a function to perform.  But they’re not doing it.  And who will be holding them accountable for the millions of kids being denied a respectable education?