Education priorities to raise with Federal candidates
On September 20, 2021, Canadians throughout the country will elect Members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent the views of their constituents. The policies of government are far-reaching and affect everyone, whether or not they have children in the school system. While public education is a provincial government mandate, federal decisions directly impact public schools.
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Friday, October 4, 2019
Following a difficult and frustrating week for school board trustees across the country, we watch our colleagues in Quebec under the threat of a potentially devastating piece of legislation tabled by their provincial government. The CSBA, our members and the communities we represent across the country are shocked and dismayed to hear the Quebec provincial government’s interest in robbing its French-speaking citizens of a public education system governed by democratically elected community members dedicated to public education.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 31, 2019
Sherbrooke, ON: As members of Quebec’s francophone school boards gathered at their annual congress, CSBA President Laurie French spoke on the importance of locally elected governing school boards.
“The Canadian School Boards Association was happy to accept the invitation to speak to members of the FCSQ as they face the risk of losing local voices in public education in Quebec,” said Ms. French. “The CSBA supports all school boards in Quebec in calling for the preservation of elected trustees. We believe in governing school boards providing local voices in public education, allowing for local choices in how that education is administered.”
During her presentation Ms. French touched on the political and educational environments in each province across the country. “The experiences of school boards across Canada vary greatly, from a positive, healthy relationship between elected trustees and the Ministry of Education in British Columbia, to the complete dissolution of English-speaking school boards in Nova Scotia. It’s important to look at all the situations and hear from people in those provinces on how public education is working for their students and communities.”
Her presentation included video messages from Paul Wozney, President of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, and Adam Davies, a former school board member in Nova Scotia. Their messages were clear about what has been lost there with advice – if you are faced with losing your governing school board, do whatever you can to stop it.
“The messages from Mr. Wozney and Mr. Davies in Nova Scotia really resonated with members of the FCSQ because it brought to light the realities of what happens when school boards are eliminated,” said Alain Fortier, President of FCSQ. “It has been a year since the Nova Scotia government dissolved boards, and from what we hear, communication among all education partners has continued to deteriorate, ultimately hurting students and communities.”
The CSBA is committed to working with provincial associations, regional school boards, and other education partners to support a healthy and responsive public education for all students. “We are not against change,” said Ms. French. “But we do believe in collaboration, and that there is room for multiple voices to be involved, especially the local voices of governing school boards providing the local voice and regional accountability.”
The Canadian School Boards Association represents governing school board members from across the country through their provincial associations. CSBA and its members champion collaboration and innovation in public education.
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For more information, contact:
Nancy Pynch-Worthylake
Executive Director
902-456-5574
www.cdnsba.org
(Montreal: May 21, 2019): APPELE-Québec – the Alliance for the Promotion of Public English-language Education in Québec – released the results of a Leger Marketing Survey of English-speaking Quebecers, which demonstrates solid community support for elected school boards and strong opposition to the Government of Quebec’s proposal to replace them with service centres.
“School boards have deep roots in the English-speaking community and are viewed as playing a critical and valuable role in ensuring our elementary and secondary schools effectively respond to the needs of our community,” declared former MNA Geoffrey Kelley, who is chairing APPELE-Québec, “Not surprisingly we believe that our neighbour who we have elected to serve on a school board will better represent our interests than a bureaucrat in Quebec City.”
“In looking ahead,” continued Kelley, “as the poll makes clear, we are united in our opposition to the service centres that the Quebec government is proposing and determined to protect our constitutional right to manage and control our school system.”
Key findings of the survey are as follows:
“School board elections,” concluded Kelley, “are strongly supported and viewed as a critical tool for protecting minority rights. As the Jennings report proposed, the Leger Survey confirms that voter turnout would increase significantly if there were internet voting and if elections were held at the same time as municipal elections.”
About APPELE-Québec:
APPELE-Québec – the Alliance for the Promotion of Public English-language Education in Québec – is a broadly-based, Quebec-wide community coalition to promote the continued existence of English school boards, to ensure they are governed by commissioners who are democratically elected by the English-speaking community at large. Our Alliance, already with 16 supporting organizations and nine observer groups, is expanding rapidly.
The Chair of the APPELE-Québec Alliance is Geoff Kelley, a former MNA and Minister. The vice-chairs are former Senator and respected journalist Joan Fraser and Kevin Shaar, a lawyer with two children enrolled in the Western Quebec School Board.
For more information about APPELE-Québec, go to www.appelequebec.org.
About the Leger Marketing Survey:
Leger was commissioned by the steering committee of APPELE-Québec to conduct a study among the province of Quebec regarding the perception of Anglophones toward school boards in general and English school boards in particular.
In order to meet the research objectives, a WEB survey was conducted from March 13thto March 21st, 2019 among a representative sample of 1001 English-speaking Quebecers, 18 years of age or older.
Using data from Statistics Canada, the results were weighted according to gender, age, region and level of education, to ensure a sample representative of the entire population under review.
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For more information, please contact:
Jonathan Goldbloom
Tel: 514-750-0887, ex 101
Email: jonathan.goldbloom@communicationsavenue.com
February 22, 2018
The Honourable Stephen McNeil
Premier of Nova Scotia
Government House, Halifax
NS B3J 1X5
Dear Premier,
The Canadian School Boards Association, representing School Boards from across Canada, is incredibly disappointed by your government’s decision to abolish locally elected school boards in favour of government appointees based on the recently commissioned “Raise the Bar” report.
Since Confederation, provincial/territorial governments have been given the responsibility of managing the education system. This however, was in part due to the important role and deep connection between education and community including the right to choose their own representative to make decisions and choose priorities reflecting the circumstances in their own community. Children’s learning is integral for our future and that of our communities and locally elected school boards were created to ensure those closest to students and communities were given a significant voice in their education.
And yet, this recent announcement has decimated the principle at the heart of our democracy, a right that is being protected for minority populations only. While we applaud the protection of the minority language education system and your decision to maintain the French language board in Nova Scotia, we never imagined the majority language voice could so easily be dismissed.
School boards serve our nation well. They provide every Canadian citizen with a meaningful voice in an education system which is the envy of the world. Nova Scotia children compete internationally and perform well among the best countries in the world.
We recognize our system of governance can improve; we strive to make strides in this area and will continue to do so. Voter apathy is a problem in all elections and acclamations are sometimes a result of positive results. However, it is incomprehensible that such a heavy handed, top down directive of removing the significant voice of the community through elected representatives is an improvement. Your government has recognized the value of school boards by maintaining the minority language board. We would identify that what is of value for the minority is also of value to the majority.
We strongly suggest you reconsider your decision and meet with the Nova Scotia School Boards Association to explore alternatives to abolishing a right that all Canadians enjoy and that you consider instead in investing and supporting the education system as opposed to dismantling it.
Please check out our recent activities at President Bulletin Fall 2017.
Version français: Bulletin Pres FR janvier2018
The “go-to bible” Copyright Matters! for educators on copyright issues in the classroom was a collaborative effort of CMEC and the Canadian School Boards Association. The fourth edition was punished in 2016. You can find the french version as well here: Le droit d’auteur ça compte!
The best resource for Copyright information can be found here: http://www.copyrightdecisiontool.ca/
Additional Resources:
Recently, publishing companies have been pushing against removing Fair Dealing in the upcoming review of the Copyright Act 2017. We at CSBA believe that it is crucial that the federal government do not re-open or amend the fair dealing provision as part of this review process.
Additional documentation regarding our advocacy efforts for Fair Dealing:
News, being what it is, tends to focus on the sensational, scandalous, or shocking. And so it is not a surprise for our colleagues across the country or in the U.S. for that matter, that the role of public school boards is often criticized.
While this negative focus seems to be on very few Canadian School Boards, CSBA has garnishing much attention for the good work which goes on at most board tables across the country. In order to greater provide a national perspective, CSBA will be conducting a nationwide poll to develop a national trustee profile to show who and why Trustees/Commissioners do what they do. It will also provide information on the public cost for this governing body, which is a minuscule percentage of education budgets. We are collaborating on strategies with several partners to further educate the public on the considerable research showing the benefits of publicly elected governors in education. Even though efforts by provincial governments attempt to lessen the role of and splinter school boards, CSBA has recently passed policy providing for more representation at our table and a stronger, more national membership. Finally, good policy means boards regularly self-evaluate for performance and effectiveness. If you continue to put students at the centre of every decision you make you will be demonstrating the strength of democracy and public schools
RK ON THE ISSUESCSBA Members meet quarterly to discuss shared issues of national importance. We continue to work on our priority areas: Student Health and Wellness, FNMI Education and providing support for school boards across the country. In addition, we are actively working on strategies to show the importance of the role that well-governed school boards play and their positive impact on their communities.
ROLE OF SCHOOL BOARDS – The Saskatchewan government recently published a review of school board structure in which they considered the abolishment of elected boards. The public outcry however, was clearly in favour of keeping democratically elected school boards. Nationally, the role of school boards however has seen some erosion that diminishes their authority to govern. For more information, see our website for a Cross Country Snapshot: Worth looking into: Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia.
FIRST NATIONS, MÉTIS AND INUIT EDUCATION – Advocacy activities have included communications and meetings with the offices of INAC, provincial Premiers and the Prime Minister to call for appropriate funding for FNMI education as well as clarity on plans that will affect education following the Daniels vs. Canada case. Furthermore, we are working with and have offered our full support to the AFN and their initiatives in education. We have been following up on valuable resources provided by partners at the NCTR Round Table in January and have posted them on the CSBA website (including treaty maps, teacher resources and information to support recognition of treaty and traditional territories). Since January, we have completed work on a cross country portrait, also on our website, showing school board structure with FNMI representation, board progress with regards to the TRC Calls to Action and some promising practices today. Going forward, the committee will continue to monitor the framework that the federal ministries, INAC and FCSD are putting together on Childcare; gather information on voluntary self-identification of staff, trustees and students; examine existing agreements between First Nations communities and boards and look into permanency policy for Indigenous teachers.
STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS – After collaborating with several national partners, the CSBA has adopted a Charter of Commitment to Student Health and Wellness. It provides a clear mission, terms of reference and a framework for our work. The Charter is available on our website. Following some collaborative work with the Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium on School Health (JCSH) which represents the ministries of both Health and Education in all Canadian jurisdictions, we have added three outstanding tools to our Health and Wellness Resources, all of which are free and bilingual: Positive Mental Health Tool Kit, Youth Engagement Tool Kit, Healthy School Planner. As there is already significant work being done in individual jurisdictions on substance abuse, the SHWC committee will be doing a policy framework survey before providing recommendations for school boards on the Legalization of Cannabis. Our collaboration with Respect in Schools is being developed with a view to providing a ministry supported, national on-line training baseline on abuse, harassment and bullying for all adults who work with youth. The two recent issues of Facts on Education, published in collaboration with CEA address two health and wellness issues, providing research on The Most Effective to Ways to Support Student Mental Wellness and The Best Way to Successfully Integrate Recent Immigrants into Canadian Classrooms (see www.cdnsba.org). We are also working on a National School Health Checklist to help boards identify strengths and weaknesses in their schools.
COPYRIGHT – We continue to monitor the 2017 Federal review of copyright regulations and the impact changes could have on schools and students. CSBA is ready to defend “fair dealing” on a national scale, assisting at the CMEC coalition, with several other concerned partners.
PROVINCIAL ISSUES WITH POTENTIAL NATIONAL IMPACT :
British Columbia: Supreme court ruling (http://www.bcsta.org/TheLeader/index.php/2017/01/30/bc-
A Saskatchewan judgement requiring children to produce a baptismal certificate to attend Catholic schools (GSSD v. CTTS) has gone to appeal.
Federal: Taxation on Employee Health Benefits (https://www.mercer.ca/en/our-thinking/mercer-response-to-benefits-taxation.html
OTHER ACTIVITIES – Prime Minister’s Awards in Teaching Excellence
CSBA sits on the Advisory Board and several members are part of the selection committee for these prestigious awards for Teaching Excellence. The recipients were named and Prime Minister Trudeau distributed the awards this past month. The high quality of applicants makes it a very difficult process. If one of the teachers is from your district, you can be very proud. Our congratulations go out to:
Jim Crescenzo, Vancouver. B.C.
Johanna Gordon-Walker, Bella Bella, B.C.
Robert Hammer, Musquodoboit, N.S.
Erica Thompson, Fort McPherson, NWT
Beth Alexander, Toronto, Ontario
Don Ball, Mississauga, Ontario
Kathy Cepo, St. Thomas, Ontario
Thomas Doherty, Balmertown, Ontario
Rahim Essabhai, Toronto, Ontario
Manon, St-Hilaire, St-Jerome, Quebec
Andrea Regier, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
CSBA ANNUAL CONGRESS 2017
Whistler, BC, JULY 5-8 – The congress hotel block at the Fairmont is full, but 2 additional, adjacent hotels are still available. Please register now. Confirmed speakers include Charlene Bearhead, former Education Lead of the NCTR, Mohamed Fahmy, Canadian journalist formally imprisoned in Egypt and Yong Zhao, international speaker on innovation in education. The congress ends with a mountain top dinner that is separate from your registration, so please reserve if you are planning to attend. www.csba2017.ca
COMING CSBA BOD MEETINGS:
CSBA Annual Congress, July 5-8, 2017, Whistler B.C.;
Oct. 15-16, 2017, Wendake, Quebec
“A democratic form of government, a democratic way of life, presupposes free public education over a long period. It presupposes also an education for personal responsibility that too often
SINCERELY,
FLOYD MARTENS
PRESIDENT
Stephen Hansen, an independent consultant with years of experience in education, provides a clear and firm rebuttal to a recent article that groups all trustees in with a few “bad apples.” Never doubt for a moment that our Canadian education system, while far from perfect, is one of the most successful in the world and elected commissioners/trustees have been central to that success.
Read the complete article here:
The CSBA Board of Directors come from each jurisdiction quarterly to discuss shared issues of national importance. We continue to work on our priority areas: Health and Wellness and FNMI Education as well as the pervasive threat to elected school boards and actions we can take nationally to show the importance and positive impact of their role.
ROLE OF SCHOOL BOARDS – Following last year’s failed bid by the Quebec Ministry of Education to abolish school boards in that province, the Saskatchewan government recently published a study to review structure and the role of governance in Education, raising the possibility that school boards may be abolished in that province as well. The SSBA is waiting for the results of the consultation, but the minister has acknowledged that “the vast majority of the people that took the time to make the submissions were in favour of elected school boards and roughly in favour of the status quo.” Following an amalgamation of 4 boards and being assigned appointed trustees, Newfoundland/Labrador successfully completed their first elections in several years this past November.
FIRST NATIONS MÉTIS AND INUIT EDUCATION – Advocacy activities have been focused on appropriate funding for FNMI education and in offering national support for the AFN initiatives in Student Wellness. The National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation recently brought education leadership together from across Canada, an excellent opportunity for CSBA to develop further relationships that could support boards and continue collaborations towards truth and reconciliation in education. Over the coming weeks, we will provide links/resources from several groups who have new and innovative resources. We will monitor the framework that the federal ministries, INAC and FCSD are putting together on Childcare: for more information, see Beyond baby steps: Planning for a National Child Care System. CSBA will attend The World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education (WIPCE) in Toronto July 24-29th.
STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS – A Charter of Commitment to Student Health and Wellness is being developed in collaboration with several other national groups. The committee is reviewing and will provide recommendations on the education component of the report from the Task Force on the Legalization of Cannabis. We are meeting with the Pan Canadian Consortium on Student Health to establish how we can collaborate with the provincial Ministries of Health on issues of national concern, including concussions and mental health. Our collaboration with Respect in Schools is being developed with a view to providing a ministry supported, national training baseline on abuse, harassment, bullying for all adults who work with youth. Coming soon: the next CEA/CSBA joint publication FACTS ON EDUCATION that provides links to research on the most effective ways to successfully integrate recent immigrants into Canadian classrooms.
COPYRIGHT – We continue to monitor the 2017 Federal review of copyright regulations and the affect changes could have on schools and students, ready to defend “fair dealing” on a national scale.
1) British Columbia: Supreme court ruling
2.) Saskatchewan: Theodore Case (GSSD v. CTTS)
3.) Taxation on Employee Health Benefits: https://www.mercer.ca/en/our-thinking/mercer-response-to-benefits-taxation.html
4.) Manitoba: Funding for First Nations Students
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE DEFENCE – It’s not news, even for our colleagues in the U.S., that the role of public school boards is continually being questioned. CSBA is working on providing you with strategies from many sources that educate the public on evidence based research on the benefits of publicly elected governors of the education system. But we must do our own homework. Before someone from government comes to evaluate your effectiveness as a board, visit cdnsba.org for helpful board self-assessment tools and make it a regular practice in policy. Lastly, good trustees are good because they put kids first. Put them at the centre every time you raise your voice to defend democracy and public schools.
MISCELLANEOUS
Until next time…
Sincerely,
Floyd Martens, President, CSBA
