Chilliwack – In January, the President of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association, Ed Klettke, called on the Minister of Education to end the Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA) and called on the Chilliwack Board of Education to petition the Minister to end the test amidst what will be a challenging and unprecedented school year.
Now, Chilliwack teachers are concerned that parents are not being respected in their choices to withdraw their children from the FSA. Parents are being told that students in attendance will be required to write, regardless of whether an opt out letter was returned to the school. Some parents are feeling that they need to keep their children at home if they don’t want them to write the test.
Klettke stated, “All students have the right to attend school and parents have the right to withdraw their children from this test for extenuating circumstances. Surely, the global pandemic is a sufficient reason that needs no further explanation.” Klettke continues, “Our schools are obligated to provide all students with learning opportunities and the district should not force students to write these tests.
The district needs to respect and honour parental choice in this matter.” Klettke concluded, “Particularly during a pandemic, students have more important learning to do than taking hours of tests that do not inform instruction nor provide any valuable data. Teachers plan learning activities every day to meet the diverse needs of our students and we want your child at school.”
