Ford government says it will take more control of school boards ‘to refocus on what matters’

The Ontario government wants more power over school boards’ academic priorities and better training for senior leaders, and is also proposing it play a larger role in the selling off of surplus school properties.

Thestar.com
April 18, 2023
Kristin Rushowy

The Ontario government -- citing concerns in areas such as writing and math where student achievement is lagging -- wants more power over school boards’ academic priorities and better training for senior leaders.

It is also proposing it play a larger role in selling off surplus school properties.

Legislation tabled Monday by Education Minister Stephen Lecce would impose new standards of training for directors of education, as well as how their job performance is measured, giving trustees and the Ministry of Education an opportunity to weigh in.

“It’s about expecting better from the system,” Lecce told the Star in an interview. “Boards need to refocus on what matters, which is student achievement.”

Parents, he added, have been “very loud and clear on their priorities in the education system.”

However, critics said the bill unfairly targets school boards for problems that stem from years of underfunding, and raised concerns about the government’s role in the sale of real estate.

“This is a huge centralization of power in the Ministry of Education … It seems like a very comprehensive change to education policy in the province, done without any prior conversations or consultations,” said Annie Kidder of research and advocacy group People for Education.

Lecce said the bill will give the government the authority to set the direction for student achievement -- given the varying results across the province -- especially in the basics of reading, writing and math, and to ensure all 72 publicly funded boards provide information on that progress to parents in a transparent and timely manner, as well as update teacher training at universities.

On the trustee side, the bill would ensure school boards are using integrity commissioners to deal with disputes between elected officials in a bid to keep their focus on students.

On Monday, the government also announced its funding for school boards for the 2023-24 school year, with an increase of $693 million, or 2.7 per cent, from last year, which critics noted isn’t enough to cover inflation. Per-pupil funding goes from $13,059 to $13,125.

“Everybody knows that the cost of living is going up, and that’s the same for us,” said Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association.

The new legislation, which will go out for consultation this spring, comes after the province had to step in to supervise and reform the Peel public school board amid allegations of systemic racism. That came three years after the York board failed to act on parent complaints that racist incidents were being ignored, and as multiple incidents of trustee misconduct and dysfunction were brought to light.

More recently, Lecce publicly rebuked the leaders at the Halton District School Board for failing to deal with the controversial dress of a shop teacher that led to months of disruption at Oakville Trafalgar High School, including protests and bomb threats.

The Halton board, which more than a month ago voted to bring in a special adviser to help it move forward, has yet to do so. It also released a promised “professionalism policy,” but parents are still waiting for more specifics on standards of dress for educators.

The province’s focus on the basics may be in response to parent concerns that boards are fixating too much on non-academic issues.

“Boards have always focused on education. That is what we do,” said Abraham. “From time to time, things happen in our society that leak their way into our school board meetings that we have to deal with, but our focus is always on education.”

The province is making a number of changes with the legislation, noting that while Ontario has an 89 per cent graduation rate after five years, some 15,000 students aren’t earning a diploma in that time. EQAO test results in math have been an ongoing concern, as have those in literacy, where roughly two-thirds of students in Grade 3 aren’t meeting the writing standard, which is equivalent to a B grade.

The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act is wide-ranging legislation that would also speed up disciplinary processes for teachers, particularly in cases where the educator has been found guilty of a crime.

It would also give the province the power to decide if a surplus site is needed by another board, or another public service such as long-term care or affordable housing, before being put up for sale at fair market value. Currently, boards direct the decisions around property sales.

To save costs, but also to bring in consistency and help cut red tape, boards would have a set of standard new school designs to choose from when rebuilding.

On Sunday, Lecce announced $180 million for literacy and numeracy supports, saying it would create 1,000 additional teaching positions to help students, many of whom are struggling with post-pandemic learning loss.

Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said the numbers “sound great but when you compare the numbers, it’s not keeping up with inflation, it’s not meeting the needs of students. They continue to be shortchanged by this government.”

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser slammed the legislation, saying the bill “is not really addressing the problems in our schools,” and added he is worried about “the government taking control of (surplus) property.”