The Board Chair for the Hanover School Division says there is still time for the provincial government to change its mind.

Ron Falk is referring to the Progressive Conservative’s proposed K-12 education reform which suggests all school boards be dissolved and all divisions be amalgamated. Since the announcement in mid-March, Falk says he has been bombarded with messages from teachers, parents, and grandparents who have been upset by this move.

“The loss of local accountability, the loss of programming, and the loss of pretty much all local autonomy is a concern,” he details.

Whereas many feel the changes are inevitable, Falk stresses that the fight to reverse these decisions has not yet been lost.

“Certainly it is long from over,” he states. “The bill still has to be passed and, no doubt, the current government would like to be reelected...  there is a lot of unhappiness right now and so that is a factor they will have to consider.”

While individuals across the political spectrum seem adverse to this move, many of the loudest voices are PC supporters. For the government to ignore the opinions of the public, especially of those who normally vote them into power, to Falk, seems unwise.

The board chair urges his fellow residents to send letters, sign petitions, and notify their local MLAs of their displeasure. If the government is overwhelmed with concerns from their ratepayers, he says, perhaps they will reconsider certain items when the reform is up for discussion again this November.

“We are definitely hoping the province makes some changes,” comments Falk. “The changes proposed are, in many ways, way beyond what the education review commission had even indicated.”

Falk is not calling on the government to withdraw Bill 64, the Education Modernization Act, but rather to take a less extreme stance. To his knowledge, the education commission advised the province to reduce the number of boards, not to totally eliminate them. Falk feels that listening to the counsel of their contracted advisors would be a great start. Meanwhile, if this bill is enacted as is, Falk believes it will be devastating for the province.

"It means there will be a lot of people out of jobs, out of their work and scrambling to put their lives back together,” says Falk who says already Manitoba’s school system has been shrouded in insecurity. “Most people are very uneasy at best and, realistically, many of them are very very nervous.”