English parents coalition ‘disappointed’ to be excluded from education reform

A coalition of parents’ committees from the province’s English school boards expressed its disappointment after learning it was excluded from parliamentary hearings on Bill 23.

“We were hoping to testify,” said Katherine Korakakis president of the English Parents’ Committee Association of Quebec (EPCA).

Bill 23, Quebec’s education reform, was tabled at the beginning of May by Education Minister Bernard Drainville.

Special consultations and public hearings into the proposed legislation kick off on Thursday with four days on the schedule.

“We were not invited so we are very disappointed and quite perplexed on why we don’t get to share our thoughts on a bill that has a direct impact on our schools and our community,” Korakakis said.

Under Bill 32, the minister would have more powers, including the power to appoint director generals in school service centres.

“For us, that would be disastrous because it would be someone far removed from our community,” Korakakis said.

Currently, director generals or “DGs” are hired by a council of commissioners — a body elected by the people they serve. The council decides on the director general by holding interviews and consulting with parent committees and other bodies.

“So that power is taken away from our community and is appointed by the government,” Korakakis said.

She fears the right of the province’s English-speaking minority to govern its own institutions is being eroded.

“If you think about not having the ability to hire who your DG is and now that person goes and appoints the principals they want, the vice-principals they want — you see how it trickles down,” she said.

Furthermore, under the proposed legislation, the education minister would have the right to reverse any decisions made by the school board, which Korakakis believes also intrudes on the rights of anglophones.

Drainville has said in the past that the bill would be beneficial for anglophones and that he would appoint director generals from the community.

He also explained the changes are to “ensure coherence between orientations of the government and how it’s being applied, how it’s being applied in the classrooms.”

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Nonetheless, Korakakis wishes the government would give the coalition the chance to have its voice heard, especially considering the French associations will be testifying.

Korakakis doesn’t believe it’s an oversight.

“I don’t see why they would have forgotten about us,” she said. “We’re at every government meeting, we’re an association that is always present and that always participates in consultations and we sit on different committees.”

A spokesperson for the Education Ministry told Global News in an email that the list of groups to be heard during special committee hearings is discussed and subject to agreement by all political parties.

“Several groups will be heard in parliamentary commissions and others won’t,” wrote Florence Plourde in French.

The education minister’s press attache, however, noted that there are other options.

“Groups that are not in committee can still send in their briefs in order to present their points and have them analyzed.”