Education council speaks out ahead of New Brunswick election

Two members from the Anglophone East District Education Council (DEC) spoke out Wednesday morning with a clear message for the government when it comes to their position in the province.

“As we head into a provincial election, our DEC is doing two crucial things: First, we are standing against the politicization of our school system. Parties and governments come and go and so do their ideological commitments, but our children’s education is far too important to allow ideology to dictate changes on a whim,” said DEC member Kristin Cavoukian. “Second, we’re standing up for democracy. We are elected by parents and we are actively fighting back against the Higgs’ government democratic attempt to dissolve our DEC and impose direct control over our district from Fredericton.”

The District Education Council is elected by parents within the district to support the development and implementation of policies within their schools.

Earlier this year, the province started the process to dissolve the education council over litigation fees surrounding changes to Policy 713 DEC is fighting in court.

Ahead of the provincial election on Oct. 21, the council is asking the elected government to reverse that application and end related court battles.

“I don’t want to repeat some of the slanderous commentary that we’ve seen in the media because I don’t think it’s helpful,” said Cavoukian. “I will say though that I think people have a very misinformed sense of what teachers do and don’t encourage and do and don’t teach students about things like gender and sexuality. Our teachers are busy people and they are trained professionals and what we are trying to do is encourage an environment in which students are safe and cared for.”

Cavoukian says if the DEC is successfully dissolved, a new one would not be re-elected, which would leave decisions within the district to be made out of Fredericton.

She says that the DEC demands data-driven and evidence-based education policies.

“This government has slandered (teachers) at every available opportunity, trying to drive a wedge between parents and teachers for political purposes,” she said.

 

“Make no mistake, the changes to Policy 713 aren’t driven by data, evidence or any actual concerns raised by parents. This is a cultural war, stoked by this government in order to frighten people.”

In August, the DEC shared an open letter on Facebook calling on the government to reserve their application, which has received nearly 800 signatures in support.

“I’m in regular communication with all of the other DECs, anglophone and francophone, in the province. The spectrum is wide and support is wide across that spectrum,” said DEC vice chair Dominic Vautour. “We have reached out to the different parties just to make sure that they’re aware of the stakes and what’s going on. We have not received any direct responses nor have we solicited them from any parties.”

Vautour says the public or parents can reach out to DEC directly if they have any questions about what DEC does. It’s also planning to offer a Q&A series on Facebook that aims to encourage families to reach out and gain more transparency.

In an email, the New Brunswick government said DEC has “chosen to adopt a policy that is inconsistent with the provincial policy.” It notes the education minister has sent multiple letters asking DEC to comply with the Education Act.

“The DEC is created under the Education Act and receives its funding from the consolidated fund,” the statement reads. “It must follow the rules associated with receiving provincial dollars which they are refusing to do.

“The DEC’s flagrant disregard of the Minister’s directions, its ongoing failure to comply with the Education Act and its misuse of public funds has led to the Application to Dissolve the DEC.”

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