Hi there, I posted a comment to the BC Education Plan website last night.

I asked some hard questions and made some points that I sincerely hoped would get people thinking, cause some constructive discussion and debate, and hopefully help towards improving our education system in BC. This morning, I received the appended reply from the BC Education Plan website Moderator informing me that my comment was not approved. The Moderator stated that my comment doesnt meet the BC Education Plan Moderation Policy. The Moderator indicated in RED that my comment was far off topic. The Moderator indicated that, The discussion is to be contained as much as we reasonably can around the questions and that, feedback not related to the BC Education Plan questions can be sent to politicians. My comment was posted to the Question 3 forum. Question 3 asks, What do you think is important for our education system in the future? That is a very open-ended question. See for yourself; how can my comment be far off topic in response to that question? I understand that not everyone would have agreed with my comment. That is the entire point of offering an alternative perspective. I was trying to engage citizens, education leaders especially, in discussion and debate that would benefit us all. That is the purpose of a forum. Isnt the BC Education Plan forum a public space? Doesnt Charter protection of freedom of expression apply there? I was not asking that the Moderation Team necessarily agree with my comments, but I sincerely hoped that citizens would either agree, refute my arguments, and/or offer improvements to my contributions. I simply expected my comment to be posted for other citizens to view, consider and reply as they may have wished. Dont forget that the BC Liberal government used $1.7 million in taxpayer money to broadcast partisan political TV advertisements for the BC Education Plan website and encouraged citizens to express themselves there. I wish the government had not done that, but they did. And with those partisan political TV ads, the government encouraged partisan political comments on the BC Education Plan website. Citizens have Charter rights to use that public space (the BC Education Plan forums) to express themselves, and to view the expressions of other citizens. I have the right to express myself on the BC Education Plan website. I have the right to view the expressions of other citizens on that public website and to reply to those expressions with supportive and/or contrary comments. Other citizens have the right to view my comments and to reply to those expressions with supportive and/or contrary comments. That is what makes democracy work for us all. That is how we can learn to understand each other. That is how we can learn from each other. That is how we can improve. It seems painfully ironic to me that this needs to be explained to the Moderation Team of a citizen engagement website. Breeching the Charter rights of citizens by censoring their contributions to a public forum will certainly not improve our education system nor will it improve our society. This BC Liberal government is trampling on our Charter rights by censoring citizen expressions which may not be agreeable, preferable, or perhaps fully understandable to this government. Other citizens deserve the right to view my comments, consider my comments and in turn respond to them as they may wish. This censorship, if allowed to continue, will stifle conversation the Charter is supposed to protect. And that hurts us all. It is ironic and disappointing that when I tried to post a comment that raises the spectre of education leaders being gagged, I was myself gagged.

I realize people may or may not agree with the opinions expressed in my comments on the BC Education Plan website, but I think most people will agree that our freedom of expression should not be removed without good reason. Cheers, Richard Ajabu Hope, BC From: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX [mailto:bceducationplan@gov.bc.ca] Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:18 AM To: <email address redacted> Subject: Comment #4848 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan) Good morning Richard. We are asking that political content remain off of this site to allow for dialogue around moving forward with education transformation. Your comment doesnt meet our Moderation Policy. We wont post comments that, in our opinion, are objectionable or inappropriate, including comments that:

1. are defamatory, threatening, hateful, indecent, obscene, illegal, immoral or sexually explicit 2. make unproven or unsupported accusations against individuals, groups or organizations 3. potentially or actually infringe any third partys copyright, trademark, right of privacy, publicity or any other intellectual property or other right 4. contain information about or images (i.e., photographs, video, or digitized or digitally reproduced illustrations) of any person other than yourself 5. advertise a product, person or organization 6. contain long embedded URLs, excessive links, code, or other material that could compromise the integrity or security of the Discussion Forum, or of the website or server on which the Discussion Forum resides 7. are far off-topic.

The discussion is to be contained as much as we reasonably can around the questions to enable us to analyse what the public is saying around these particular topics that are helping to inform the BC Education Plan. As weve mentioned on our website, feedback not related to the BC Education Plan questions, can be sent to the Minister of Education at EDUC.Minister@gov.bc.ca or you may also contact your local MLA. Comment: Richard Ajabu Submitted on 2012/05/14 at 10:54 pm

I originally posted a related comment over in the Question 1-6 Wrap-Up forum because this forum was closed to commenting. Now that this forum is open to commenting again, I would like to add to that original posting. I think it is extremely important for our education system AND our society, both now and in the future, that ALL professionals in our education system be held accountable for their actions and their failures to act in the publics best interest. For example, BCPSEA is responsible for this tyrannical, damaging and

ridiculous application to the LRB, apparently attempting to enslave teachers rather than negotiate with them. But the BCPSEA website states, BCPSEA operates under a co-governance model between public boards of education and the provincial government, so apparently the BC Liberal government AND our local School Board Trustees are responsible for this particularly shameful and damaging attack against a respected pillar of our society. We can hold the BC Liberal government accountable for these kinds of harmful behaviours at the polls in May next year. And I think we all see that train wreck is coming regardless of how the BC Liberals might try to maneuver to re-brand themselves in a fresh change of sheeps clothing before then. And unless School Board Trustees publicly speak out against this kind of behaviour, they will also be held accountable during the next local election. But how are the other education leaders in BC choosing to react to these kinds of tyrannical and damaging behaviours? With support? With opposition? With deafening silence? Educated leaders should know that indifference will only incubate more injustice. Educated leaders should know that its not just what you stand for, its what you stand UP for. Leaders need to be seen and heard, up at the front. They are not absent; they do not sit silently on the sidelines. Thats why we call them leaders. So where do our school district Superintendents stand on these issues? Our Principals and VPs? Our Secretary-Treasurers? Their professional associations? (BCSSA? BCPVPA? BCSTA?) And how can we hold them accountable for their choices, actions and inactions? I think it is extremely important for our education system AND our society, both now and in the future, that ALL professionals in our education system be held accountable for their actions and their failures to act in the publics best interest. We should all thank the Teachers of this province for their successful 10 year legal battle against the unconstitutional efforts of this BC Liberal government. And I think we all know we can rely on the Teachers of this province to continue to speak out and stand up for public education. Its the other education leaders in this province I am not so sure about. Could it be that BCPSEA and/or other organizations in BC have effectively issued gag orders to education leaders warning them of possible disciplinary action if they speak out regarding these important issues? And if so, is attempting to gag our education leaders in the best interest of our education system and our society? And should education leaders passively allow themselves to be gagged? Could an independent, province-wide online venue for communication, collaboration, discussion and debate regarding education issues provide a public venue for free speech for EVERYONE in BC? Might it be in the

public interest to protect the free speech rights of everyone, including all our education leaders, on such an online forum, so they can speak their mind freely without fear of disciplinary action? Isnt that what an education forum is all about? Wouldnt such an online forum, containing original input from ALL stakeholders, be a powerful resource for School Board Trustees and government officials as they go about their decision making? Wouldnt such an online forum provide the public with a persistent record of discussion, debate and decision-making that could be used to help hold decision-makers accountable for their decisions, actions and/or failures to act in the public interest? What do YOU think? Here are some related comments on this website: 1. Various links regarding need for online forum. 2. Comment and links regarding 360 degree evaluations. 3. Another comment regarding 360 evaluations. 4. Need for professional association, arbitrator & royal commission. 5. 21st century citizens expect 21st century online citizen tools.
If you have any questions about this policy and how its applied, please contact us at bceducationplan@gov.bc.ca. From <Moderator Name Redacted> On behalf of the BCs Education Plan Moderation Team http://www.bcedplan.ca

BC's EDUCATION PLAN

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