New Brunswick has also sought solutions through structural change. On 1 March 1996 all regional school boards in New Brunswick were dissolved and replaced by a new governing system comprised of the Department of Education, an Anglophone and a Francophone school board, and mandatory district parent advisory councils and school parent advisory committees. This drastic restructuring step was taken in an attempt to increase parents' involvement in their children's education, to 'streamline' administration, and to direct more resources to the classroom.⁷ Regional control of education was eliminated and local committees could only advise the central governing body.

In February 1998 an independent Parent Governance Structure Review Committee was established to evaluate the effectiveness of the new governance structure; and by late October of that same year the committee published its first report with thirty recommendations that were concluded after consultations with 1174 individuals at all levels of the new governing system.

Though many parents indicate that, by being part of the new system, they feel they are making a greater contribution to their children's education, the report did outline considerable weaknesses-a breakdown in communication between all levels of the governing system and a lack of training aimed at helping parents define educational goals for their children.⁸

In Prince Edward Island, the Department of Education has allocated additional funding for an Education Alternative Program through the PEI Youth Initiative, "a partnership of health and education systems and the community to better meet the needs of children, youth, and families."⁹

The program is established to help students continue their education until they achieve a high school diploma. Students who have dropped out of school or are at risk of doing so because they do not fit in traditional school situations are offered alternative education routes in an attempt to reintegrate them into the classroom. There are seven alternative education sites in Prince Edward Island based on partnerships with government agencies, school boards, colleges and the Federal government. ¹⁰

Indicators show that in Nova Scotia the efforts of government to establish alternative structures fall short of meeting the needs of parents and communities. Groups in several Nova Scotia communities have resorted to civil disobedience in order to protest the restructuring plans of government, illegally occupying schools and government offices.¹¹

These protests are important indicators of the desperate desire of students, parents and citizens not only to protect that which they value most, but also to draw attention to proposals for better alternatives in education. Protests and proposals throughout the Maritimes cover a wide spectrum of issues: location, size, ownership, governance and programs. Each community is unique in its problems and its opportunities for solutions. If there is a common conclusion to be drawn from all the conflicts and confrontations between community concerns and education structures it is that we need to accommodate a diversity of solutions. New Learning proposes that stability in the public education system is accomplished through the accommodation of diverse, community-specific solutions. It is individual communities that are best equipped to determine the most relevant education opportunities for their students.