People for Education Information Bulletin

Contracts imposed, Bill 115 repealed, and more education news. | forward

 

	The contracts are imposed - what will happen now? Until August 31, 2014, most teachers and school staff – including school secretaries, library technicians, educational assistants, early childhood educators, custodians, trades locals and more – will be working under contracts imposed by the Minister of Education. Even principals and vice-principals will be required to take three unpaid days off in the second year of the contracts. Teachers' federations have reacted in various ways: The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has announced its members will walk off the job for a one-day protest on Friday, January 11, and both ETFO and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) have asked their members to continue to decline to supervise extra curricular activities. To read more about the contracts - who is affected and how - click here. In this newsletter we explain some of the other effects.

Teacher-hiring rules changed Bill 115 and the new education contracts also included a new compulsory province-wide process for hiring long-term occasional and permanent teachers. From now on, new teachers will be hired more on the basis of their seniority and less on individual principals’ judgment.  Up to now, the process for hiring new teachers differed from board to board, and some have complained that the process was insufficiently "transparent" and left too much up to principals. On the other hand, Catholic, Public and French school trustee associations, as well as Ontario's principals' councils have raised strong objections to the new process. To read the step-by-step process for hiring new teachers, click here.   Bill 115 Repealed At the same time contracts were imposed, the Minister of Education announced that Bill 115 will be repealed before the end of January. Repealing the Bill will not affect the contracts, but it will mean that the contracts cannot be extended beyond 2014 and that no new Minister of Education will have the extraordinary powers the Bill granted. The lawsuit challenging the Bill’s constitutionality will proceed. To read the Ministry of Education press release about repealing Bill 115, click here.

	Are extra curricular activities in jeopardy? For how long? Both ETFO and OSSTF have suggested their members continue to withdraw from supervising extra curricular activities for the time being. There is no disruption of extra curricular activities in Catholic and French-language boards because those teachers agreed to the provincial contract before it was imposed. ETFO and OSSTF are meeting this week to decide whether the "pause" in extra curricular activities will continue, and if so, for how long. Students and parents are very concerned about the loss of this vital component of a broadly-based education. Research shows that students who participate in extra curricular activities are more engaged in school, and thus more likely to be successful. To read more about the research on extra curricular activities, click here.

	School spirit matters! How will it be affected? While the current labour situation should have no direct impact on students in their classrooms, there is a possibility that it may create divisions within school communities. Those divisions can have an impact on the overall “climate” of a school, which in turn has an impact on student success. Numerous research reports have said that positive and collaborative school cultures are a key component of strong schools and strong school systems. While the imposition of contracts may bring stability to schools, it may also damage the collegial learning communities that teachers, principals, support staff, parents and others have built up over the years. To read more about what the research says, click here.

Will a new Premier and a new Cabinet make a difference? At the end of January, Ontario will have a new Premier and a new Cabinet. This may leave the door open to new and more positive talks with all parties involved - school boards, teachers, principals, support staff, the province (and even, perhaps students). New talks could focus on ensuring that future negotiations are more effective, that all relevant points of view are heard, that there is clarity about whether negotiations are to happen at the local or provincial level, and, most importantly, that for the next two years students are able to attend vibrant, effective, activity-filled schools.   What can I do? Join the conversation in our online community – this lively discussion now has over 215 comments and almost 13000 views! Share this newsletter!

       

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EVENTS FIND MORE EVENTS

	Jan. 29 – Toronto Join Trustees Pamela Gough and Chris Glover to discuss the impact of Bill 115 on students in the Toronto school board. Annie Kidder will be the keynote speaker. Read more		Jan. 30 – Online Community Living Ontario Webinar Mini-series: Advocating for Better Education—what are your rights? Read more		Feb. 6-8 – Markham Best Start Resource Centre, 2013 Annual Conference. Focused on strategies and solutions related to family, maternal, newborn and child health. Read more		Feb. 19 – Ottawa Join the Ottawa Catholic District School Board and Ottawa Catholic School Parents’ Association for their spring Director’s Forum. Read more

	Feb. 26 – Mississauga National Canadian Safe Schools Conference 2013, featuring a keynote address from Gemini Award-winning CBC journalist Mark Kelley. Read more		Mar. 15-16 – Toronto Unleash the Noise! The first student-led mental health innovation summit in Canada. Read more		April 6 – Midhurst The Simcoe County District School Board’s fifth annual Circle of Learning Conference: Linking Parents to Student Success. Read more		Include your event! Do you have an education-related conference or event notice you'd like us to post? Send us the details and we will add it to our listing. Email us!

 

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