English-speaking school trustees and parents in Ottawa fear that Ontario’s education reform will erode local autonomy.
On Monday, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra unveiled his reforms under the Putting Student Success First Act.
The reform limits the financial responsibilities of elected school trustees: the director of education will be replaced by a CEO who will take care of the budget and the number of school counselors will be limited to a maximum of twelve. In some school boards, this number is currently 22.
Another announcement: the eight English school boards currently under supervision will continue to be directed by their provincial supervisor until further notice.
For their part, French-speaking school boards will be able to maintain their current governance structure, but they will have to use approved educational resources
like on the English side.
The powers of amputee school counselors
If advisors don’t have the power to make changes and can only advocate for a cause, how is having a powerless advisor better than not having one at all?
asks the school trustee of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board [Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB)Â – traduction libre], Lyra Evans. According to her, the role of school counselors is so slim with this reform that she wonders if they still have one.
She adds that entrusting management to a CEO amounts to reversing the very meaning of education.
Education is a service designed to prepare our children for the world that awaits us. When it’s all about counting dollars and cents, we’re missing the point
she judges.
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) Trustee Lyra Evans
Photo : Radio-Canada / Michel Aspirot
Another advisor of theOCDSB, Donna Blackburnis of the opposite opinion. The changes are less radical than some feared, she said. Especially since the powers of the counselors had already been eroded over time, explains the school counselor.
Most of these changes don’t really surprise me, and I even welcome some of them
a dit Mme Blackburn.
As soon as the school year began, the Minister of Education said he was considering the pure and simple abolition of school counselor positions for English-speaking public schools, citing poor financial management within certain school boards. This was not included in Monday’s announcement, much to the relief of Ms.Blackburn.
Toronto instead announced the limitation of discretionary spending by advisors and the capping of their fees at $10,000.
Ten thousand dollars before taxes means you won’t attract the best candidates for this position
however criticizes M.ÂEvans.
Within theOCDSB, fees for a school counselor were about $16,000 last year. Taking into account the workload, this amount already corresponded to less than the minimum wage, says Ms.Blackburn.
Worried parents
Among other changes, in the classroom, teachers will have to use lesson plans and guides approved by the province. The law also aims to establish compulsory written examinations during official exam days
for grade 9 studentse à la 12e année. Attendance and participation
will also be taken into account in the final grades of secondary school students.
This really poses a big problem for me
reacts Alicia Vrieswyk, a mother from Ottawa whose child has special needs. She fears that the attendance grade of some young people is low due to absences linked to complex needs or mental health problems.
Alicia Vrieswyk, a mother whose children attend schools in Ottawa’s public and Catholic school boards, says she is concerned about the changes proposed by the province.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Justin Tang
This amounts, in a way, to ignoring the diversity of learners
she believes.
Ms. Vrieswyk worked with school counselors in revising the elementary curriculum as part of a parent advocacy group. She fears concentration of powers
in the hands of the provincial supervisor for the schools under supervision or a new director general or a director of education.
Last year’s school counselors were able to see things from a human perspective, in terms of student success. The government is taking away all the power that advisors actually have.
She also wonders how much the salaries of these new supervisory positions will cost taxpayers.
With all these high costs, I don’t see how this corresponds to an approach that puts students first
argues Mme Vrieswyk.
Calandra told reporters Monday that current principals or superintendents may be able to fill some of the roles of CEO or director of education, and that he did not foresee a financial impact linked to the creation of these supervisory positions.
With information from Arthur White-Crummey et Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang of CBC News
