Somehow time is able to fly even faster - the school year is already nearing the halfway mark. Thank you to the members who attended the General Meeting on Jan.15th, it is great to get some time together to discuss our issues. Your advice regarding the FSA is heartening - your concerns about students being told to stay home on days the FSAs are written were particularly commendable. Students have the right to a public education, and parents should have the right to withdraw them from activities which do not match the family's values. We often see students given the opportunity to work on alternative curriculum - why are the parents being told not to send their children to school when FSAs are being administered? We repeatedly say the tests do not match our curriculum - and indeed, one would wonder what alternative curricular materials could be provided to ensure the outcomes are reached if the student does not write the FSA. Perhaps they could graph socioeconomic status of the school they are attending - after all, that is what the results of the test seem to be best at indicating. Perhaps they could count the number of "missing" specialist teachers - or write an illustrated story entitled, "The Day the School Librarian Went Missing". There is clear agreement by all parties involved - except the Fraser Institute - that the FSAs need to be eliminated. A more valid form of testing needs to be used. The CVTA will be providing information to parents regarding the concerns we have about the misuse of the results of these tests, our concerns regarding the costs and the instructional time lost, as well as our concerns regarding the fact that their student should not have to stay away from school when FSAs are administered.
