For Immediate Release

April 19, 2010

(Queen's Park) - Parents of children in kindergarten next year had better read the fine print, says Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod.  Today, MacLeod asked the Education Minister why a January memo from the Ottawa Carleton District School Board forces parents to put their children in full day kindergarten or transfer them to another school.

"Although the Pascal report called for parental choice of either half or full day learning, the Liberal plan actually forces parents to take it, leave it or transfer their child out of their neighbourhood school if full day learning is not the preferred option.  What kind of choice is that?" said MacLeod.

The fine print Premier and his Education Minister have been touting the Pascal Report but when asked about parental choice for full or half day learning today the Minister simply told the Legislative Assembly, "until a child is six years of age, they are not required to be enrolled in any school."

"Parents must read the fine print on full day learning.  It is clear the Liberals have adopted an all or nothing approach with their kindergarten plan and it will be a real shock to some parents come September.

Legislation on full day learning will be debated tomorrow, Tuesday, April 20^th.

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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

Monday 19 April 2010

Full-day kindergarten

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I have a question for the Minister of Education. Do you support the Pascal report on full-day kindergarten in its entirety?

Hon. Leona Dombrowsky: Our government, I think, has a very strong commitment to early learners in the province of Ontario, and that is why the Premier announced that we will establish our full-day learning program for four- and five-year-olds.

We did ask Dr. Pascal to consider our earliest learners and to provide us with some ideas on how we might move forward to support families and our youngest learners, to enable them to be ...

(Mrs. Dombrowsky)

-Dr. Pascal to consider our earliest learners and provide us with some ideas on how we might move forward to support families and our youngest learners to enable them to be successful when they arrived at school.

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We've received the report, and I think it's fair to say that the reaction to our response, our initiative on the part of this government has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly by parents but even by the business community who recognize that what we are doing here, the first of its kind in North America, is an investment in our youth and an investment in-

Mr. Steve Peters: Thank you. Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: The Pascal report, With Our Best Future in Mind states on page 14, "Children's participation would be by parental choice, with parents having the option of a half, full (school hours), or fee-based extended day of programming."

Minister, I have an email that I'm going to ask the pages to take over to you.

Can you explain to me why, then, on January 7, a memo from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board suggests you are taking away parental choice by forcing parents whose preference is half-days to, instead, transfer their child out of their current school that is only offering full days? What kind of choice is that for parents?

Hon. Leona Dombrowsky: The choice is still there. Parents continue to have the right to choose if they want to have their children enrolled in a kindergarten program in the province of Ontario. In fact, the law in Ontario is that, until a child is six years of age, they are not required to be enrolled in any school. So, with the announcement of our early learning program, the same rules apply. If parents wish to have their children enrolled in the program, that would be their choice.

We are not making any law that says if your child is four years old or five years old, that they must be enrolled. It continues to be the option for the family. We are committed to ensuring that in the province of Ontario we have the very best early learning program. We know that the-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.