Islanders Trying To Do What Is Best For Students.

Stress levels have increased for many Islanders over the past few months, due to the school review process; which takes place every five years. It has been a significant political conflict in Prince Edward Island legislature for the past two sittings. The Liberal government of Prince Edward Island believes this is a necessary review to allow us to understand how island schools are functioning, to ensure students are receiving the best education possible based on the number of students enrolled. On the other side, the Progressive Conservative Party and the Green Party do not agree with government. They believe that the school review process does more harm than good; especially to small communities, the budget , and the students. During the fall sitting of the legislature, the opposition proposed a motion to eliminate the school review process, but it was rejected, after the government won the in chamber vote.

The school review process allows members of the cabinet and the public to examine issues within schools, such as overcrowding, maintenance needed, declining enrollment, and under utilization. With this information the Department of Education can make changes and reconfigurations within the educational system to solve problems, ensure that students have equitable opportunities to learn and resources are being used effectively. Even though the solutions to some of the major issues conflict with promises that the Liberal government made during elections, like not closing school. Pat Murphy, the minister of rural and regional development discussed in a CBC article that he believes the school review had the wrong focus, which was solely on building utilization, compared to focusing on the students opportunities, such as size and variety of classes, and overall quality of education.

While being featured on the CBC radio show Island Morning in April, Doug Currie, the minister of Education, Early Learning, and Culture stated “...over $20 000 in supports…” when being asked how much the school review has costed the government. The opposition believes that taxpayers dollars could be put to better use, especially when this process happens too frequently. Also, the opposition points out that throughout the school review process the government was too concentrated on ways in which they could save money in the future rather than the best interest of students. It is possible that changes made because of the school review would be beneficial towards future budgets, but it is being questioned by the opposition due to the tremendous expenses of the process in general.

The Public School Branch and Government hired appointed professionals to do the school review. This allows them to make unbiased recommendations, to support the future of the students and schools. The opposition argues that because there are no elected trustees on the board; only the appointed ones from the government, it is a conflict of interest. It is believed to be biased because the data that the government relied on for this process, was found to be inaccurate. The opposition was also frustrated when the Public Schools Branch declined the release of specific information regarding the review. Still,the review board continued using data that included with inaccuracies and errors to make their official recommendations.

One advantage that all political parties agree on, is that this process encourages members of the community, including parents and students to become involved with their the education system, and the government. They can do this by attending meetings, following the media, and submitting their opinions to the board. This allows people to be part of the decision making process and potential future changes. The main goal from this review is to seek the public's input on how to provide better learning opportunities for all students.

Many Residents of Prince Edward Island along with the Opposition, do not agree with this process; feeling that students and schools are better off without it. That was the purpose of the Progressive Conservative Party creating motion No. 72, calling for the elimination of the five year provincial requirement for a school review process. Since the Liberal party has a greater say, the motion was defeated on December 6th 2016. The government feels that this is an important review and it will be continued.