As our media coverage grew, we realized we needed a separate page to provide quick access to the videos, audio, and documents. Please find that here. Hopefully this will help you find out what's buzzing around current issues and also help you share it far and wide.
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THANK YOU to all who have supported our activities and efforts recently with our postcard campaign and online petition. We currently have over 1600 signatures with more still coming in!
Keep sharing the cards and the petition! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/305/769/792/ BIG thanks to all who helped make our media event at the Premier's office yesterday a huge success. We believe the more awareness we can generate and the more information we can help circulate, the more people will ask questions and demand answers! Both PAN and FACE received great media coverage over the last few days in major outlets - TV, radio and print/online. Check out our website for links and information. REPRESENTATION AND MEMBERS We now have PAN representation at 49 schools across Vancouver! This is increasing steadily and with broader school representation, the stronger our voice to the VSB and other stakeholders. Attached is our PAN Backgrounder document which can be shared with PACs and parents, posted to bulletin boards etc. NEXT MEETING Our next PAN meeting is scheduled for next week on Monday February 1, 7:00-9:00pm, at the Tipper (2066 Kingsway, back room) We invite you to join us and other like-minded parents and contribute your ideas and action. JOIN OUR GOOGLE DISCUSSION GROUP JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Like it? Share it! Twitter: PAN Vancouver @PAN_Vancouver Facebook: www.facebook.com/PANVancouver BY-ELECTION CANDIDATES ANSWER PUBLIC EDUCATION QUESTIONS On January 18, 2016, a representative of the Parent Advocacy Network for Public Education (PAN) and Families Against Cuts to Education (FACE) emailed the following two questions to each of the candidates in the Coquitlam–Burke Mountain and Vancouver–Mount Pleasant by-elections and asked them to respond by January 22, 2016. A follow-up email was sent on January 22, and those candidates that had not yet responded were contacted by phone/voicemail and Facebook message on January 23.
Friday, January 22. PAN member and Charles Dickens Elementary PAC Chair Andrea Sinclair represents PAN on the Simi Sara Show, discussing seismic upgrades and the call for school closures.
As you are aware, we have all been very busy collecting both signed postcards and online signatures as part of our "I Stand with the Standing Committee" campaign. We are still gathering both - and the numbers are growing - but we are going ahead with our planned event to pass all we have to Mr. Bernier/Premier Clark next week.
Representatives of PAN will be presenting the materials to staff at Premier Clark's office on Tuesday January 26th. We will need a large group of parents/PAN members to attend to show support (numbers) as we are pushing this to the media (on Monday) in the hopes of getting coverage and generating greater awareness within the Vancouver parent community. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT AND ATTENDANCE!
Please RSVP BY SATURDAY JANUARY 23 by emailing us at [email protected] We need to know how big our group will be and work on the final logistics before Tuesday. We hope we can count on you to make time to show your support. ~ Andrea Sinclair for PAN IMPORTANT
The Parent Advocacy Network (PAN), in conjunction with Families Against Cuts to Education (FACE), is targeting the provincial government with a goal to deliver hundreds of paper postcards - campaign well underway - and thousands of online signatures from citizens declaring “I Stand with the Standing Committee”. Our goal is to make a bulk delivery of both signed postcards and online signatures to the Minister of Education demonstrating that parents will be holding his government accountable to adequately fund public education. We need your help in spreading the word! We hope that you will join us by sharing the link below with fellow parents, neighbours, family and friends and through your own social networks. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/305/769/792/ The all-party provincial Select Standing Committee on Finance & Government Services Report of Budget 2016 Consultations found - for the second year in a row - that the top priority for British Columbians is K-12 education funding. Sadly, these have previously been ignored. They cannot be ignored in Budget 2016! The Select Standing Committee on Finance & Government Services recommendations: 1. Provide adequate capital funding to school districts for facility improvements/seismic upgrades/additional schools 2. Provide stable, sustainable and adequate funding to enable school districts to fulfill responsibilities to continue to provide access to quality public education, with recognition of the increased costs school districts have incurred. 3. Review the Ministry of Education funding formula for programs and services, as well as administrative staff compensation levels to ensure adequate and competitive compensation. Sign the online card petition NOW and "Stand with the Standing Committee"! Thank you for helping spread the word! The more signatures we gain, the stronger our collective voice! Together we can make a difference! On January 12, VSB Trustees will be meeting with senior staff to review a draft proposal of the long range facilities plan that will outline how the VSB will reduce 'surplus capacity' within the district over the next 15 years to meet a capacity target of 95%.
This is roughly the equivalent of eliminating 7,000 seats or 280 classrooms. This proposal must be submitted to the Ministry of Education by January 31, 2016. The Parent Advocacy Network (PAN) has already raised concerns about the negative impact that a 95% capacity will have in terms of the disruption of communities if school closures occur - overcrowding in remaining schools, the inability to serve the future enrollment needs of these communities, the elimination of specialized spaces such as art and music rooms as well as the loss of community supported programs such as Strong Start. |
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