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Should there be more independent school choices on PEI? What do you think?

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This comment was posted on the recent CBC article about the children Autism being unfairly removed from PEI schools for extended periods of time. 

Where is the Autism Strategy that the PEI government
have long been talking about? Families who have child(ren) with ASD are
faced with ongoing challenges and barriers from long before their
children even enter the public school system. By the time many of these
children hit the public system their families are exhausted by all that
they have had to do to get any measures of support in place for their
child. It seems that there are endless waiting lists to access what
little supports exist. Once a child transitions into the public school
system the supports and communications are often even further strained.
Of course, the school boards are trying to do the best they can with
the limited resources that they have. This is an issue not only on PEI
but across Canada. That said, sending children home because there is no
better way to deal with the challenges is NOT the answer. It is time
for PEI to start exploring a range of additional educational options
for not only children with ASD, but for ALL Island children. The truth
is that children and families have many different educational needs and
requirements. Children have a range of learning styles and there are
many special needs that must to be balanced. Why not start considering
things such as partially funded Independent school choices – like in
many other Canadian Provinces? This would allow a wider range of
educational streams to develop in a progressive manner. Also; how about
a program that allows children to be home schooled but still be
considered to be part of the public system – connected to a local
community school and under the guidance of a registered teacher.
Additional options like these would surely be progress in the right
direction. It is time for all Island families to expect more!

$63.5m rescue for child care

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Premier Dalton McGuinty is rescuing 7,600 subsidized child-care spaces with an infusion of $63.5 million in the upcoming budget.

Sources say that despite a record $24.7-billion deficit, McGuinty does not want to abandon what had been a joint federal-provincial program that was effectively scrapped by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"What I can say is that we've struggled with this," said the premier yesterday. "On the one hand, you've got these kids who are in quality day-care spaces and we are very reluctant to evict those kids from those spaces and create challenges not only for them but for their families and their parents.

"On the other hand, every time the federal government steps up to the plate and says, 'we've got funding now for a program,' and then withdraws from that … people look to us to fill in that space at a time when we're struggling to meet our own commitments.

"So it's not an easy challenge for us to overcome and we'll speak to it in the budget."

Insiders say Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will use tomorrow's provincial spending plan to announce the Liberals will replace the federal funding that runs out on April 1.

"This is very much a core value to us," an official said, noting the government is also beginning the phase-in of all-day kindergarten for 4- and 5-year-olds in September and does not want to undermine that initiative by curbing day-care funding.

In 2006, former Grit prime minister Paul Martin's administration gave the province $252 million as part of a new $5 billion national child-care plan, but Harper's Tories cancelled the program and replaced it with monthly $100 cheques for parents.

Because Ontario chose to spread out its funding over four years, McGuinty was able to create 7,600 sub- sidized spaces at a cost of $63.5-million annually. The federal money runs out at the end of this fiscal year. This has created a dilemma for Queen's Park that goes well beyond child care.

Federal money for time-limited programs ranging from economy-boosting infrastructure improvements to a $39-million plan to vaccinate girls for human papilloma virus is also starting to run out.

Sources say McGuinty is worried about the future of such joint federal-provincial initiatives if Ottawa opts out of continued funding.

While declining to discuss specifics, Duncan conceded there is an iceberg on the horizon.

"Close to $1 billion in time-limited federal funding is expiring in a whole range of areas… skills training, housing, public transit."

In Ottawa, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he would like Ontario to follow his lead and focus on a reasonable timetable for deficit reduction.

"I would hope the provinces would have a look at what we have done federally and look at their deficit situations and demonstrate plans to move over time to balanced budgets and I think that's what the expectation is among the Canadian people," said Flaherty, who has repeatedly spurned Ontario's demand for child-care funding.

The Toronto Star reported on March 17 the province expects to be awash in red ink until 2017-18.

New Democrat MPP Rosario Marchese, who has been one of leaders of the fight to ensure Queen's Park continues to fill the child-care vacuum left by Ottawa, said it would have been "ironic and quite sad" if all-day kindergarten hurt day care for younger kids.

"When you pull out the 4- and 5-year-olds from child-care providers, you remove an important source of revenue. It's the revenue that subsidizes care for infants and younger children," he said. "Without it, they will be crippled and many will not survive, and those that do will have to increase fees."

Beyond sparing the day-care spots, the budget will include new spending for 20,000 additional spaces in colleges, universities, and apprenticeship programs, an economic plan to hel

via www.thespec.com