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Letter: Proposed K-6 curriculum a horrific fail

Dear editor,
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Dear editor,

My son, who will be in kindergarten this coming fall, will apparently be learning about migration and the settlement of ancient civilizations. If this seems a little suspect, then look no further than the proposed Alberta elementary curriculum that was recently released by the UCP government. I’m not sure what I was expecting with the new curriculum as the list of blunders from the UCP has grown quite long at this point. (Need I remind you of the sneaky tax increase downloaded onto municipalities, the energy War Room, which attacked a kids show on Netflix, the travel scandal, which saw many UCP MLAs not abide by their own health restrictions, the fight with doctors during a pandemic, the gambling of billions of dollars on a failed pipeline, the coal policy — the list of ineptitudes is far and wide.)

But I had some measure of hope, albeit extraordinarily minuscule, that the UCP wouldn’t fail so horrifically, that they would do what they needed to do to benefit our children. I’m not sure why I hoped. This bizarre curriculum is not only a regression of what I consider fundamental education, it appears to be symbolic of the attributed characteristics of Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and her boss Jason Kenney: draconian, elitist, out-of-touch, pompous, oblivious and ignorant. At this point, numerous educational professionals have expressed their concerns with the new K-6 curriculum, and many parents I have spoken with are left wondering what they can do. My answer to them is the same as it has been with all of these horrifying blunders. We stand up, write emails, make our voices heard, and we don’t back down. Our kids are depending on us. And a well-rounded public education should definitely not rest in the hands of LaGrange and Kenney. Their track record has been proven.

Jessica Jones,

Ponoka