Dear Minister Cardy,

Following our CBC radio interviews (May 3, 2021), I am writing to you to take you up on the invitation to participate in the discussion that sees Policy-322, Inclusive Education, looked at more closely. I am delighted that you have, once more, publicly voiced your concern with the policy, noting that it is not serving all students in the education system. But, I would like to ask you why, after seven years, has nothing been done? How many students have graduated without functional literacy levels? How much longer will the off-the-record, 'No-Fail' policy be so broadly applied with its disregard for circumstances?

As the Minister of Education, you are the Legal Authority on this policy; thus, it is not the School Districts, administrators, or teachers within the province that bear the weight of responsibility or criticism that see children go through our education system without receiving an equitable education. As we both know, equitable outcomes are only possible with equitable access to resources. Children pushed through the system are placed on modified tracks and do not have equitable access to education; they do not receive the curriculum by a licensed teacher but are often receiving their education by an Educational Assistant─with or without the appropriate 1-year college diploma. 

I couldn't agree more with your position that there are "…clearly some failings in the system, where some kids are left to fall through the cracks year after year". Failing to look at a child holistically by having children receive their 'education' alongside their matched-chronological-aged-mates while not considering developmental age or circumstances fails miserably in providing an equitable education for many children. Not all children start the race on the same start line; some of the brightest may finish later but stronger.

Your Inclusive Education policy will see my son, who has missed 8.5 consecutive months of school ─ due to school closures and a dying father who was immunocompromised─ who is presently in a kindergarten class, only ever taught the kindergarten curriculum promoted to a grade 2 class this fall. This is in consequence of his principal, who acted bravely in defiance of Policy-322 in January 2021 and placed him back into kindergarten on compassionate grounds but kept him formally on the record as a grade 1 student. As a result, he will be denied an opportunity to learn the grade 1 curriculum from a licensed teacher in a grade 1 classroom, and subsequently, he will be placed on a modified program. For what purpose; to be educated alongside his matched-chronological-aged-mates? Is this good policy? Didn't you say, Minister Cardy, that "education is more than spending 12 years in a classroom"?

While my son's story is a public one, which I believe fully demonstrates a failure in applying policy, among other failings in the system, I am aware that our case fits within the broader narrative, which sees students falling through the cracks of the education system. Good educational outcomes see parents involved in their children's educational journey. Without parental decision-making power, parents are alienated. Parents are too often placed in adversarial roles to be the 'voice' of their child and 'fight the system.' And Canada has a growing record of landmark cases where parents brought the needs of their child with autism spectrum disorder to the forefront of public consciousness resulting in intense government scrutiny (Shepherd & Waddell, 2015). I now empathize with any parent put in a position to pursue litigation to ensure their child's rights are not violated.

In truth, parents should be understood as the experts of their children; teachers the experts of their classrooms. Thus, going forward, in addition to changes to Policy-322, I would like to see parents given appropriate decision-making power regarding their child[ren] 's best interest in collaboration with the teacher concerning placement decisions such as retentions. As you said in 2014, you wanted individual principals, teachers, and parents to have "power" and not a bureaucracy in Fredrecton deciding these matters.  

I am pleased we have a conversation going, and I sincerely look forward to a formal invite from you to be given a 'voice' on the Inclusive Education policy changes.

Respectfully,

Tanya White