January 19, 2009
The Facts on the Foundation Skills Assessment
The NDP and their union friends have again put politics ahead of children's education. The BCTF recently passed a resolution calling for a boycott of the Foundation Skills Assessment in an effort to manufacture a political issue at the expense of students in the lead up to the election. Here are the facts on the FSA:
- The FSA has been in use for nearly ten years, and was brought in by the BCTF's own NDP.
- The Assessment was designed by BC Teachers is based on the BC Curriculum and is supported by experts, first nations, parental organizations and BC's own Independent Representative for Children and Youth.
- The Assessment is one of the few tools that provides students and parents with individual information on how their child is performing in reading, writing and math regardless of where they live or what school they go to.
- We fundamentally believe that parents have the right to know how their children are doing in school.
- The NDP and the BCTF should put students first and abandon this threat of a political boycott.
