A new bill soon to be passed in the Albert Legislature will require schools to notify parents in advance about subject matter that deals explicitly with religion, sexuality or sexual orientation. Parents have an option to remove their child from such discussions. Some people are a little upset by it, indicating that a public school should be allowed to teach whatever they like and not have to consider the beliefs and teachings of parents. I believe they do have to take parental beliefs into consideration.

Here is a one-sided view from the CBC:
Evolution classes optional under proposed Alberta law

Devin Johnson in Manitoba said in a long blog regarding this topic that, "While it is true that parents can and should play a role in curriculum development, it is equally true that academics, scientists, and educators are uniquely positioned to know what content is most helpful to the intellectual development of students".
I disagree. That is the old model, which is gone, washed up and laid to rest. The problem is that not all "educators" know it yet.
It is the students who are driving content now. What a concept, eh!
Oh, the basic 3 R's are still there of course but there is a lot of forward thinking taking place now. Intellectual development is just one aspect of the whole, which seems to leave out physical development for instance. There are many other influences (mentors, advisors, leaders, situations, trips, etc) which help a student's Intellectual development other than academics, scientists, and educators.
I'll get into the "new" content in another blog, but here is a teaser:
paradigm shift

I laud the government for having the fortitude to go ahead with this bill.

Update:
This statement was made on May 11/09:
"The provincial government has no plans to alter or abandon controversial changes to the Human Rights Act now being considered by MLAs, Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett said Monday."
Story here.

Update 09/05/15
Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett says he's more sure now than he was two weeks ago that he's doing the right thing by enshrining parental rights in Alberta's Human Rights Act. See the Edmonton Journal story here.

Cheers - Mike