MONTREAL -- Multiple groups representing Quebec’s school boards, as well as teachers and parents, are pleading with the province’s education minister to reconsider Bill 40.
They argue more consultations need to be held before the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) adopts the proposed school board reform.
This comes after several days of parliamentary hearings on turning the province’s school boards into service centres, a proposal tabled by Education Minister Jean-François Roberge on Oct. 1.
It’s a move the government has called “the end of school boards as we know it,” aiming to give more power to the ministry.
Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) insists there needs to be consensus on any changes to the education system and the current proposed reform is "convoluted, confusing, complicated and difficult to implement."
During the hearings, the association recommended the legislation be withdrawn, insisting the government has not proven that Quebec’s education system is in dire need of change, nor has it shown how it will improve student success.
Under the bill, the French system will lose its right to hold elections to choose commissioners and directors. The English system will keep that right, as Roberge acknowledged the community argued strongly to protect its minority language rights.
Roberge has continued to insist he wants to pass Bill 40 before the end of the current session in early December. The legislation proposes that school boards cease to exist by November 2020.
