Sbastien Proulx needs to slam brakes on Bill 86, say Anglo educators

Quebec Education Minister Sbastien Proulx should slam the brakes on the government's proposed school board reform before the bill damages English schools, an association of public educators said Wednesday.

• Anglo groups tell Quebec not to meddle with school boards
• Bill 86: Hearings on school board reform underway

The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) told a legislative hearing in Quebec City thatProulx needs to sit down with Anglo groups as soon as possible. It wantsProulxto make changes to existing legislation, rather than push ahead with Bill B6.

If passed, the bill will eliminate school board elections.QESBAand other Angloeducation groupsfear this will lead to the anglophone community losing control of English schools.

Compared to its French counterparts, English school boards have relatively high turnout rates for elections. English education groups also claim theirdrop-out rates are lower, and graduation rates are higher.

"The Englishspeaking community is proud of its85 per centsuccess rate,"QESBApresident JenniferMaccarone said ahead of her appearance before the legislative committee.

"We have always been open to change and discussion with successive governments," she added.

"Those changes must benefit student success, schools, and communities. This bill will not improve any of those priorities, and actually, will only negatively impact our students' success, our schools, and our communities."

Among the members of legislative committee is Liberal MNADavid Birnbaum, who headed theQESBA for a decade before entering politics.

The committeecontinues its hearings on Thursday.