Click HERE to view the 2019 CSBA Annual Report
CSBA President attends Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec Congress
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
Study confirms English-speaking Quebecers overwhelmingly support governing school board
(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:
- A vast majority (88%) of respondents are aware of the existence of their region’s English school board;
- Seven out of ten respondents (68%) believe that school boards should be elected by the population.
- Two thirds of respondents (67%) believe that school boards contribute to the efficient functioning of elementary and secondary public schools. Overall, 85% of respondents say that English school boards are important to them.
- 89% of respondents consider the English school board that serves their area important for their community’s identity. However, only half of them (48%) consider that it is a hub of community life.
- 61% of respondents are aware of the government’s plan to abolish school boards but only 12% support this plan. Only 16% of them believe that the Quebec government should be able to unilaterally make decisions regarding the future of school boards. Moreover, three quarters of respondents (76%) feel that a local elected school board official would do a better job at making decisions on English public school education than a Government of Quebec civil servant (6%) as proposed in the plan.
- Respondents are very committed to protecting the rights of their community: 90% of them say that their minority language education rights are very important to them, and 87% think that school boards should remain independent from the Government of Quebec in order to protect these rights. Moreover, with regards to elections, 84% of respondents agree that the population at large should be able to vote in school board elections when it is a question of protecting the rights of English-speaking Quebecers to control and manage their educational facilities.
“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
Les conseillers et commissaires scolaires élus et les politiciens fédéraux se rencontrent à Ottawa
POUR DIFFUSION IMMÉDIATE
Le mercredi 8 mai 2019
Les conseillers et commissaires scolaires élus et les politiciens fédéraux se rencontrent à Ottawa
Ottawa, ON : Au cours des deux dernières journées, le conseil d’administration de l’Association canadienne des commissions/conseils scolaires a rencontré des députés et des sénateurs pour discuter de l’importance d’une voix communautaire démocratique dans l’enseignement public.
Les membres du conseil d’administration de l’ACCCS sont venus de partout au pays pour partager avec des parlementaires fédéraux de l’information sur les rôles déterminants que jouent les commissions/conseils scolaires dans la prestation de l’enseignement public, et sur la relation avec les mandats de compétence fédérale. « Bien qu’il soit important de reconnaître que l’éducation est une responsabilité des gouvernements provinciaux, les priorités des commissions/conseils scolaires et de nos leaders fédéraux demeurent bien alignées. Ces priorités incluent la protection de la démocratie et du droit à une représentation élue au niveau communautaire », d’affirmer la présidente de l’ACCCS, Laurie French. « Nous avons été très fortunés d’avoir des discussions productives avec de nombreux parlementaires et conseillers en politiques au sujet de l’importance de l’enseignement public et de la représentation communautaire à tous les niveaux de gouvernement, notamment les commissions/conseils scolaires. »
Depuis l’époque de la confédération en 1867, les commissions/conseils scolaires et les gouvernements provinciaux travaillent ensemble afin d’assurer les meilleurs résultats pour tous les étudiants. Plusieurs domaines de responsabilité partagée correspondent à la mise en œuvre de priorités fédérales. Le maintien d’une solide gouvernance locale par le biais des commissions/conseils scolaires demeure donc essentiel à la réalisation d’objectifs provinciaux et fédéraux. L’éducation des Autochtones; l’enseignement dans la langue de la minorité; les mesures d’aide pour les nouveaux arrivants canadiens et les réfugiés; la santé mentale et la toxicomanie; et la sécurité des étudiants sont certaines des principales responsabilités partagées des commissions/conseils scolaires locaux et du gouvernement fédéral du Canada.
« Malheureusement, dans certaines régions du Canada nous assistons à une érosion croissante des droits fondamentaux des Canadiens en ce qui concerne la voix démocratique locale dans l’enseignement public par l’entremise des commissions/conseils scolaires locaux », d’ajouter Mme French. « La gouvernance de l’éducation des enfants et des jeunes au Canada a été confiée aux conseillers et commissaires scolaires élus à l’échelle locale, dans tout le pays, par les membres des communautés qu’ils desservent. La protection des voix locales pour assurer des choix locaux par le biais des commissions/conseils scolaires est importante pour tous les citoyens. Nous savions qu’il était essentiel de rencontrer les députés et les sénateurs pour nous assurer qu’ils comprennent les rôles des commissions/conseils scolaires et le travail important qu’ils effectuent dans les communautés d’un océan à l’autre, au service de nos étudiants. »
L’ACCCS a aussi communiqué avec des représentants fédéraux pour souligner l’importance capitale de protéger les droits démocratiques à tous les niveaux partout au pays. Au fil du temps, les conseils d’établissement des écoles ont vu leur autonomie et leur flexibilité s’effriter à mesure que les gouvernements provinciaux ont retiré de plus en plus de contrôle du niveau local. Cela s’est traduit par la perte de la voix communautaire et de la capacité à desservir les étudiants.
« Il est important de noter que l’ACCCS, les associations provinciales et les commissions/conseils scolaires ne s’opposent pas au changement », de dire Mme French. « Toutefois, nous sommes d’avis que le renforcement du système d’éducation publique doit être le fruit d’une collaboration et dans l’intérêt des étudiants et des communautés. »
L’Association canadienne des commissions/conseils scolaires représente les membres des conseils d’établissement des écoles partout au pays par l’entremise de leurs associations provinciales. L’ACCCS et ses membres sont les champions de la collaboration et de l’innovation dans l’enseignement public.
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Pour plus d’information :
Nancy Pynch-Worthylake
Directrice générale
902-456-5574
www.cdnsba.org
Press Release: Elected School Board Trustees and Federal Politicians Connect in Ottawa
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Elected School Board Trustees and Federal Politicians Connect in Ottawa
Ottawa, ON: Over the past two days, the Canadian School Boards Association board of directors has met with Members of Parliament and Senators to discuss the importance of democratic community voice in public education.
The CSBA board of directors came together from across the country to share information with Federal Parliamentarians on the significant roles that school boards play in the delivery of public education, and the relation to mandates under federal jurisdiction. “While it is important to recognize that education is a responsibility for provincial governments, there remains significant alignment between the priorities of school boards and our federal leaders. This includes the protection of democracy and the right to elected representation at the community level,” said CSBA President Laurie French. “We have been very fortunate to have meaningful discussions with a number of parliamentarians and policy advisors about the importance of public education and community representation across all levels of government, including school boards.”
Since the time of confederation in 1867, school boards and provincial governments have collaborated to ensure the best outcomes for all students. Many areas of such shared responsibility correspond to implementation of federal priorities. Maintaining strong local governance through school boards therefore remains essential to fulfil both provincial as well as federal objectives. Some shared responsibilities for local school boards and Canada’s federal government include Indigenous education, minority official language education, supports for newcomer Canadians and refugees, mental health and addictions, and student safety.
“Unfortunately, in some areas of the country there is an increasing erosion of the fundamental rights of Canadians with regard to local democratic voice in public education through local school boards,” said Ms. French. “Governance of the education of children and youth in Canada has been entrusted to locally elected trustees across the country by members of the communities they serve. Protecting local voices to ensure local choices through school boards is important for all citizens. We knew it was essential to meet with MPs and Senators to ensure they understand the roles of local school boards, and the important work that school boards achieve in communities across Canada in service of our students.”
The CSBA also liaised with federal representatives to highlight the vital importance of protecting democratic rights at every level across the country. Governing school boards have felt their autonomy and flexibility slip away over time as provincial governments have taken more and more control from the local level. This has resulted in the loss of community voice and the ability to serve students.
“It is important to note that the CSBA, provincial associations, and regional school boards are not against change,” said Ms. French. “However, we believe strengthening of the public education system needs to be collaborative and in the best interest of students and communities.”
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
2019 National Trustees Gathering on Indigenous Education & CSBA Congress – latest info!
For the FULL program, click HERE
NTGIE Overview:
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
6:00pm – Registration opens
7:00pm – Kevin Lamoureux
Thursday, July 4, 2019
8:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – Keynote: National Chief Perry Bellegarde
10:30am – Closing the Graduation Gap: The Indigenous Graduation Coach, Keewatin-Patricia District School Board
11:30am – Student Panel
12:30pm – Lunch
1:00pm – Decolonizing Our Schools
2:00pm – Anishinaabemodaa: The Ojibwe Language Strategy
3:00pm – Indigegogy: An Indigenous Informed Educational Approach Rooted in Love and Healing
CSBA Congress Overview
Thursday, July 4, 2019
4:00pm – CSBA Board Meeting and AGM
6:30pm – Registration opens
7:30pm – Keynote: Valérie Chort
Friday, July 5, 2019
8:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – Keynote: Dr. Gabor Maté
10:30am – Concurrent plenary sessions
12:00pm – Student panel
12:30pm – Lunch
2:00pm – Concurrent workshops
6:30pm – Dinner cruise
Saturday, July 6, 2019
8:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – Keynote: Brian Woodland
10:30am – Cross Canada Check-in
12:00pm – Lunch
1:30pm – Concurrent workshops
7:00pm – President’s Reception and CSBA Banquet
From the Desk of the President – May 2017
President Floyd Martens:
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE DEFENCE…
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
CSBA WO
RK ON THE ISSUES
CSBA 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
* THE CSBA WEBSITE NOW PROVIDES ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULES FROM 8 PROVINCES ON ALL TOPICS THAT TOUCH ON GOOD GOVERNANCE. THERE ARE MORE THAN 60 COURSES FOR TRUSTEES/COMMISSIONERS COVERING VIRTUALLY EVERY TOPIC. AVAILABLE IN TEXT OR WEBINAR FORM, MANY ARE ALSO BILINGUAL. PLEASE CHECK UNDER “RESOURCES.”
“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
is neglected.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
SINCERELY,
FLOYD MARTENS
PRESIDENT
Seasons Greetings/Meilleurs voeux
The CSBA would like to wish Canadian students, as well as its partners in education, a joyous holiday season and best wishes for the new year.
We are looking forward to new initiatives in the new year; keep an eye out for new posts on best practices in Canadian education as well as the launch of our brand-new public discussion forum on educational issues across Canada-“join the community” to find out more.
We’ll see you in 2011!
