We were recently asked by some parents fighting to keep FDK at Pineland PS how we would respond to this article in the Mississauga News on the rise in enrolment of French Immersion, so here is what we told them:
Well, first off - kudos to Peel for capping the program which is something our board refuses to do. Boards cannot manage programs that are uncontrolled - which is why all other OPTIONAL programming has entry requirements --> e.g. gifted and the IB programs in Halton.
Capping has been denounced by the very powerful lobby group, Canadian Parents for French (CPF), and under the guise of 'access to the second language' and 'bilingualism' yet they do very little, if anything, to support improving CORE French which would provide ALL children with access to learning our other official language. While they hate the idea of capping, they offer no solution to the problem they have created/contributed to through their mass marketing of the program as being superior. They downplay the 'lag in English skills' and play up the attributes of bilingualism. What parent of a Kindergarten child WOULDN'T want those marvelous things for their child? Unfortunately, that is manipulative because parents of children that age have no concept of what type of learner their child will be.
“The opportunity to learn both official languages should really be accessible to everybody and it shouldn’t be left up to chance,” remarked Gormley, whose organization is a strong proponent for universal access to the program not considered mandatory curriculum by the Ministry of Education.
This is BS. The Ottawa Catholic Board and the New Brunswick approach does offer EVERYONE access to learning French that is best for children and not divisive to communities through a combination of intensive core and immersion (at a later stage, after learning style has appeared). CPF seems more interested in pushing their FI program than in having all kids actually learning French.
Last September, there were 81 students on the wait list after school started. But, all were offered spots at French Immersion schools, outside their neighbourhood, that had space.
The lottery process has angered and frustrated many parents whose kids don’t get into the program at their neighbourhood school.
After all was said and done, only 81 kids were put on a waitlist out of how many?? And all were offered spots!!!! We support this type of cap as it retains the integrity of neighbourhood schools and keeps a healthy balance. Had a cap like this been in place at Pineland, you would not be fighting to keep FDK there.
Again, FI is an optional program. If one chooses to put their child in it and the spots at the neighbourhood school are full, you are still given the opportunity to bus them somewhere else (as most in Halton do right now). This is how to properly manage the program.
One of our Halton trustees years ago actually said at a board meeting that HDSB needed to 'compete' with private schools and Catholic schools for students -- FI definitely is the dangling carrot. The problem is, this is public education and not private companies and therefore should not be competing for anything.
“We were having trouble finding teachers to staff the program cause it was getting so large,” explained Instructional Coordinator Amy Cundari. “In order to keep our program (standards high) we instituted this cap so it would not overgrow and we couldn’t staff it.”
We have brought this to HDSB's attention many times -- is there a secret stash of teachers that we don't know about and exists just for Halton? They MUST be dealing with the same issue as every other board is in Canada that doesn't control the program! In fact, Peel's FI program used to be 80/20 but in the move to control it they dropped it to 50/50 (like that of Halton) because they couldn't find teachers. Most boards in Canada offer 80-100% immersion. What we have in Halton is referred to as 'partial immersion' and is according to CPF in this open letter to HDSB dated November 2013, "just meets the Ministry’s minimum at 3800 hours of French in grades 1-8 and is already a compromise."
Learning French is an asset and a great skill for many reasons but let's not lose sight of the the fact that public schools should be for all children, not just some. HDSB needs to learn from other boards who have successfully managed/controlled the optional program, expanded the core one and truly embraced inclusion and what is best for kids (not their parents). After all, what is the end goal? To have more bilingual citizens or to make money? Make no mistake, FI is a money maker...