Provincial Coalition of Partners in Education As you have doubtless read in the papers or heard on television, school boards in the province are facing ma- jor cutbacks in an attempt to balance their budgets. Last September, these cutbacks resulted in the closing of 45 schools and the elimination of nearly 2000 teaching positions across the province. In concrete terms, this means more students in the classroom, few services for special needs students, fewer resources for the schools, etc. In other words, diminished quality of education. The CSF appears to be the exception to the rule. The francophone school board increased the number of teaching positions and offered more library and remedial teaching positions. This situation is, in part, due to the facts that the CSF has repaid its accumulated date, putting one million dollars back into the budget, and new Ministry of Education funding formulas favoured the CSF. We should also note the ex- cellent work of the CSF and administration with respect to funding during the past two years. It is still too early to predict the impact of education budget freezes on the CSF for this coming September. One thing is certain, the CSF executive will also have to make some difficult choices. While we must continue to make demands to ensure that CSF priorities focus on the students, the main issue continues to be lack of government funding. This is why francophones must join with other partners in education across the province to create a coalition. It's fairly easy to see the advantages that such a coalition, consisting of parents, teachers, support staff, school administrators, school boards, and principles, would have if all of these partners managed to speak with a single voice. To help create this type of coalition, the FECB is sponsoring an independent round table to develop a consensus around the key issues that will guide the development of public edu- cation in the years to come. This round table is composed of Reverend Margaret Marquardt (chair), an Anglican priest from Vancouver; Dr. John C. Moss, former director general of the Qualicum School Board; George Watts, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth band council; Kathy Whittam, parent of a special needs student; and David Chudnovsky, outgoing FECB president. Now, more than ever, all of the organizations focused on public education must unite their efforts to defend quality education in British Columbia. Parents, teachers, support staff, school administrators, directors general, and school board members must work together to find common ground. Without a doubt, each group will have to water down its expectations some- what. At the end of the day, however, it will be the students that benefit. Pierre Blouin President BC Francophone Teachers Association (FECB) Francization for non-francophone parents Francization workshops are available for non-francophone parents of students enrolled in the francophone program. Much more than a simple French Second Language course, these workshops are designed to provide a place for discussion and support for parents who want to encourage their children in the francophone education system. Workshop leaders assist parents with grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, and provide numerous opportunities to converse in French. The varied workshop materials are often based on students’ activities and homework in an attempt to enable the (no) parent to play an active role in the child's French-language education. The twenty-hour (20) workshops are offered in any school to groups with at least the toll-free numbers below. Contact Annie Buteau (1-866-335-0909) or (2 _ six participants. Cost is $85 per person, and the Ministry of Education subsi- \/\=— \, dizes a portion of this cost. Interested parents may enrol by calling one of all | INFO-PARENTS Caroline Veillette (1-866-266-6613). Annie Buteau Coordinator, Family Francization and Literacy Educacentre Tel. (toll-free): 1-866-335-0909 Email: buteau@island.net