The report of the Minister’s Panel on Education calls for segregated, self-contained  (or “congregated”) settings that could take children with a wide variety of disability labels out of our classrooms, our schools, and our communities.

It also suggests narrowing the curriculum to focus on Literacy and Math in the elementary years, leaving fewer entry points for those who have different educational strengths, such as the arts or sports.

We believe that the education of children who are diverse learners is too complex an issue to be addressed by just a few recommendations. We are particularly concerned by the suggestion of segregation. Excluding children who are not ‘typical’ from their classrooms would set our education system and our communities back some 20 or 30 years and would be in contradiction to Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

An independent report into the ways that our education system can work for all – conducted by experts in education for diverse learners, constitutional law, and disability issues, and including input from the Human Rights Commission, the Special Educational Programs and Services Committee, First Nations communities, the African Canadian community, Disability Community, disabled learners and parent voice, – is crucial before any further steps are taken.

We, the undersigned, call on you to set up a representative committee to develop an independent action plan as outlined above. We value the diversity in our communities and we ask you to do the same.