Toronto Teacher - Volume 3, Number 2

Transcription

Toronto Teacher
| Toronto Teacher|
‘Just let me teach ...’
Published by the Elementary Teachers of Toronto
O
Holding The Line
f course I honked. Whenever I see a group
of people holding up signs that ask passing motorists to honk in support, I do it
almost reflexively.
The way I see it, the people making the request
are almost, without fail, folks who are up fighting
the good fight against some sort of injustice. Could
be a recalcitrant employer trying to cut their wages,
benefits, or indeed, their jobs. Could be a government, local or foreign who is denying them justice.
But almost invariably the people with the signs have
right on their side.
In this case, I was absolutely correct. The group
with the signs on Eglinton Avenue East, close to
Laird, was a mixed group of ETT and OSSTF
District 12 activists who were continuing to hold to
account our Premier, Kathleen Wynne.
I waved as I drove past and then pulled into a strip
mall parking lot. As I made the short jaunt to where
the protestors were, outside Kathleen Wynne’s office,
I could hear cars continuing to honk as they went by.
I was rather surprised by the number of cars who did
so, after all there can’t be that many teachers cruising
along Eglinton.
When I arrived at the protestors, I was not surprised to see Peter Hasek. I know Peter’s steadfast attitude from our work on the Political Action Committee and figured if anyone would be out here it would
be Peter. Along with Peter were Samira Ahmed and
Sebastian Bertrand from ETT as well as Tim Heffernan, Thom Corner and Karen Jutzi from OSSTF.
We chatted for a while and then I explained that I
In
this
issue
Volume 3 l Number 3 l June 2013
wanted to get a group picture of them. As I glanced
to my right I saw a police cruiser idling in the alleyway beside the building that contained Wynne’s
office. The cops did not seem pleased. Mind you it
was hard to tell whether it was because they disapproved of our message or because they were bored
and ticked off at having drawn such a tedious assignment as guarding Wynne’s constituency office.
As we moved down the sidewalk for a group
shot outside the office, the cruiser nosed forward in
order, I suppose, to keep us under surveillance.
As it happened, 5:00 was quitting time on the
picket line and I arrived just in time. The happy
warriors arranged themselves in front of the constituency office, I snapped a few pictures and the picket
line broke up.
Samira and Sebastian were on their way home
while Peter, Tim, Karen and Thom decided to head
over to Shoeless Joe’s for a beverage and a meal.
As I headed back to my car to stash the camera, the
police cruiser bolted down Eglinton, relieved at last,
no doubt, to get involved in real police business.
As it turns out the Premier herself is conspicuously absent from her office Friday afternoons. The
only time the protestors knew for sure she was there
was back in November. Odd when you think about
it as it would be a convenient time to meet constituents.
Still the demonstrators do her the courtesy of
sliding one of their fliers into the office when they
arrive and set up shop. They have been pleasantly
surprised by the positive response from people
driving by. It was suggested that although the
people who were honking did not know the issues
involved, they did know what teachers went through
and wanted to show their support.
The number of people who showed up to protest
varied widely. You would have thought, given the
glorious weather on the Victoria Day long weekend,
people would have stayed at home to put in their
gardens. Instead they had double or triple the number of demonstrators outside Wynne’s office. Peter
noted, tongue in cheek, that he actually liked wet
weather as it made him appear more sympathetic,
bedraggled and pathetic.
As food and drinks arrived and I listened to my
OSSTF colleagues discuss the situations at their
schools, I was struck at how similar they were to
what we, as elementary teachers face. Keeping
their members motivated and united, standing up
to principals who chaff under the restrictions of the
Collective Agreement and try to slide around it are
common at the high school level as well.
I am always amazed at the number of administrators who resent the union and the Collective
Agreement. What a CA does is impose a set of rules
that defines what is permitted, for both teachers and
administrators. It provides some sense of order on
the workplace. The other alternative is a state of
anarchy with arbitrary and capricious demands on
the part of the management and wild cat strikes by
the employees.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Surefire Ways To Improve
Your School’s EQAO Scores..................2
School Evaluation Survey Results 2013........... 6
Editorial.....................................................10
Rebranding the Liberals................................... 8
Education Update......................................11
Kathleen and Me....................................3
Reading with the Angels......................................... 9
Building A Dream.......................................12
Elementary Teachers of Toronto
Toronto Teacher | June 2013 |
1
|Toronto Teacher|
Surefire Ways To Improve
Your School’s EQAO Scores
by Andrew Campbell
L
ate April and early May is a
festive time in Ontario’s elementary schools. The whiff of
EQAO is in the air (did you get your
EQAO tree yet?).
At our recent PD day we had
teachers attend workshops to learn
how best to administer the test and
prepare their students. The rest of us
circled the test days in our calendar
and were asked to be aware of the
serious business afoot. Soon grade 3
& 6 teachers will be stripping classroom walls of student created anchor
charts, so that students don’t cheat by
looking something up.
Despite the message that no special preparation is needed for EQAO,
boards require teachers to administer
practice tests and offer after-school
‘booster’ clubs to help students improve their EQAO scores. The official
position is that the tests aren’t evalua-
tive, but practice suggests otherwise.
Educators trying to improve
EQAO scores might need assistance.
Being a helpful sort I scoured the
profiles of the top 15 EQAO schools
to discover their Score Boosting
Secrets!!!
Before sharing, two disclaimers:
•EQAO doesn’t publish school
rankings. They oppose it and claim
it is harmful, but still make test data
publicly available so that others
can rank schools. These are also the
tactics of The National Rifle Association, cigarette companies and fast
food restaurants. Like EQAO they
claim that the harmful effects of their
products aren’t their fault, but caused
by how people use them. Luckily, the
folks at The Fraser Institute produce
annual school rankings based on
EQAO scores, and it’s their data I
used for this analysis.
•This is not, in any way, a scientif-
ic analysis. I am using grade 5 math
skills and a little time, not deep data
mining. Someone else is welcome to
do that.
Here are the surefire ways to improve your school’s EQAO scores
from the top 15 EQAO schools:
•Move To Toronto: Hogtown
is home to 60% (9/15) of the top
15 EQAO schools but only 20%
of Ontario’s schools. That’s a huge
over-achievement. The only nonGTA communities in the top 15 are
St Catherines, Sudbury, Guelph and
Arnprior. It might be the CN Tower,
the excellent public transit, or the
fine work of Mayor Rob Ford, but
learning in Toronto certainly elevates
EQAO scores.
•Privatize: Independent schools
serve just 6% of Ontario students but
20% of the top 15 EQAO schools
(3/15) are independent, fee charging
schools. Privatizing your school not
only improves EQAO scores, but
ETT Stewards’ meeting
Summary: To transform your
school’s EQAO scores become a
private school, located in Toronto,
with mostly native English speaking
students from high income families.
Deny admission to special education
students.
HOLDING THE LINE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
I was curious as to why they continued to come out to protest even though
a contract has been imposed on us.
Peter was personally outraged by the
number of people who were robbed
of their sick days and the attitude of
“here’s your contract, take it or leave
it.”
He cited the case of a teacher who
had MS and could work on good days
but not on bad ones. In the past they
were able to make use of their banked
sick days when they were off work but
now that this buffer was removed they
are looking at not only a devastating
illness but poverty as well. If you enjoy
good health, the loss of banked sick
days, aside from the retirement gratuity, is no big deal. If you suffer from a
chronic condition it is.
The TDSB has moved to an ‘attendance management’ scheme. Absences
from work will be more rigorously
scrutinized. This will present problems
for people with conditions that are not
easily diagnosed. If you suffer from
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| Toronto Teacher |
more money means no more teacher
griping about having to bring supplies
from home. Win-win.
•Get Rich Quick: Schools teaching students from higher income
families score higher on EQAO. The
average annual family income of
the top 15 EQAO schools is $112,
908.33, almost double the average
annual family income in Ontario
($65,500 in 2010). Schools can attract
students from high income families
with simple strategies such as school
uniforms (think grey blazers), a gluten free snack program or changing
the school name to something with
“Academy” in it. Planting ivy in the
front garden won’t hurt.
•No Specials: Getting rid of special education students boosts EQAO
scores. The top 15 EQAO schools
average 11.12% special education
students, while the provincial average
is 19%, almost double. Apply some of
the new income from privatization to
paying special education students to
transfer to neighbouring schools. This
will lower your competitors scores,
making you look even better.
•Speak English: The top 15
EQAO schools have only 3% of
students that are English Language
Learners, less than half of the provincial average of 7%. Surprising given
the large number of top 15 schools
in the GTA, where the ELL population is reported to be well above the
provincial average. Remember this
when relocating to Toronto. Location,
location, location.
June 2013
chronic pain or a mental health issue
such as stress, you could be flagged as
someone taking sick days unnecessarily and be called to account.
As far as Thom was concerned,
everything in the last year was illegitimate, the imposed contract was
illegal, and simply trying to mitigate
the bad terms of the contract did not
make them good, just not as bad. What
he hoped Wynne would do was what
Kennedy suggested, rip up the contract and start over again. The reason
he was out there was to send a signal
to both the union and the government
that he was not satisfied. Ultimately, if
you could suspend basic constitutional
rights for one group, what is there to
prevent you from do so with any other
group.
When I asked Tim why he was out
he gave a wry smile and stated that he
was a general shit disturber. He did
make the following observations. First,
if the union negotiates a contract on
the part of its members, it is working
for the membership. If they accept a
government contract, they are working
for the government. There was a pause
and then he stated, “The Liberal government supports public education the
way a rope supports a hanging man.”
The tab came, we settled up and it
was time to head for home. As I walked
down the street, I thought of a favourite
phrase of Wynne’s ‘turning the page.’
The Premier was anxious to turn the
page on Bill 115, the imposed contract
and teacher protests.
What the people who gather outside her office on Friday after school
do is prevent her from moving on to
the next chapter of her Premiership.
Their physical presence is a reminder
to Kathleen Wynne that the injustices
the Liberal government perpetrated on
teachers remain.
An election will come in the not too
distant future. In the past teachers have
formed a large cadre of the workers
hammering in signs, phoning voters
and walking up to front doors to gather
support for the Liberals. It is obvious
that not only the teachers outside her
office and many, many others will not
be among them.
Related Findings:
•Faith based instruction doesn’t affect EQAO scores. A third of Ontario
schools are faith based and the same
proportion are represented in the top
15 EQAO schools.
•The next 15 schools in the rankings show an even greater GTA bias
(13/15). Could it be the sweet waters
of Lake Ontario? Further research
required.
•The bottom 15 schools in the
Fraser Institute rankings show the
following:
•None are from Toronto and none
are private schools
•About half (7/15) are in First
Nations, fly-in communities in
Northern Ontario.
•The seven First Nations schools
don’t report family income, but
the remaining eight schools in
the bottom 15 have an average annual family income of
$41,775, almost half the average
Ontario annual family income.
|Toronto Teacher|
Kathleen and Me
by Bruce Stodart
I
t is not every day that you
find yourself discussing the
sexual preferences of the
Minister of Education with the
Minister herself. Yet there I
was, about to send an e-mail
to Kathleen Wynne on precisely that topic.
Del Milbrandt, Paul Wilson
and myself had concluded
an interview with her on the
weekend and as part of the
article I included a brief biographical sketch. As with any
of these bits of boilerplate, I
detailed her domestic situation
and mentioned that she lived
with her three children and
her partner Jane. Now Jane
is not a gender neutral name
like, say, Pat and in doing so
I would reveal that Kathleen
was a lesbian.
PHOTO: Craig Robertson / QMI Agency
Although her colleagues at Queen’s
Park knew she was a lesbian, indeed
her first speech in parliament mentioned this fact, it was not widely
known by the public. 2007 seems like
the recent past however the recent
debate over gay marriage has pushed
the acceptability of a leader who is gay
or lesbian into an inconsequential fact
of their private life.
Moreover her riding contained
pockets of people who were politically
progressive but socially conservative.
As she was the underdog in a tight
election battle against John Tory, the
then PC leader, this information
could cost her votes and possibly
the election. I outlined my
dilemma in an e-mail to her,
swallowed and hit the Send button.
The following morning there was a
reply. Of course I should include it in
the article, she was completely open
about it.
However that was not the first time
I had encountered Kathleen Wynne.
Those of you who were around in
1997 may recall what was, for Toronto, perhaps the most contentious
legislation of that singularly unpopular
politician, Mike Harris. In that year
Harris announced plans for the forced
amalgamation of large cities and towns
in the province. For Toronto this meant
jamming together the six municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto into one
large megacity.
A group of city activists came
together to form Citizens for Local
Democracy. As it grew in numbers,
meetings were held at the Metropolitan United Church on Queen Street. In
time, the number of people attending
their meetings swelled to the extent
that they exceeded the church’s capacity and Massey Hall was rented to
contain the throngs of supporters who
showed up for its mass meetings.
From my perch in the balcony I
understood why John Sewell was
on the stage channeling some Old
Testament prophet. But who was that
slight blonde haired woman slicing
and dicing the presumptions on which
city wide amalgamation was based
and delineating its essentially undemocratic nature. Kathleen Wynne was not
a name I had heard of before and I was
puzzled as to who she was and why
she should be front and centre.
The key was Lawrence Park Collegiate. Wynne was active in the Lawrence Park Collegiate Parents Associa-
to try to get support from our commution and ran unsuccessfully for school
nity. I signed up for her campaign on
trustee in 1994. When Harris began
his attack on the education system, she the spot.
At the time, I had no idea what her
helped to found the Metro Parents Netsexual orientation was and it would
work. Although she was flying below
my radar at the time she was building a have made little difference to me. However when I showed up at her house
coalition.
to go canvasing for votes, there was a
Amongst the groups determined to
fight this anti-democratic initiative was soft spoken, short haired woman who
a ginger group of thirty ratepayers who seemed to be somewhat distressed.
At first I took her to be a campaign
gathered at Lawrence Park Collegiate
organizer or a fellow canvasser. It was
to come up with strategies to defeat
only later I found out she was KathHarris’ plan. In time it joined with
leen’s partner, Jane Rounthwaite. It was
former mayor John Sewell to become
from Jane I found out that scurrilous
Citizens for Local Democracy. It was
homophobic literature was appearing in
a quixotic campaign that went down
the ward that said that Kathleen was a
to defeat but succeeded in bringing
‘radical lesbian.’
Kathleen into some
Kathleen came down
prominence.
the stairs and seemed
I never made her
somewhat subdued. The
acquaintance through
The
sense
issue of the literature
the Citizens for Local
came up. I said that it
Democracy meetings
of betrayal was
seemed to me that this
and she had slipped my
business of her being
mind as I made my way
palpable. Many
a ‘radical lesbian’ was
outside after a Baycrest
wrongheaded. It was
School Council meetof these people
like being pregnant.
ing, into the dark and
had voted for
You can’t be a little bit
chilly October night. As
pregnant, you either
I made my way outside,
Harris and yet
are pregnant or you are
there stood that same
not pregnant. Similarly
slight, blonde haired
he seemed bent you can’t be a ‘radical’
woman I saw at the
lesbian, you either are
CLD meetings. Howevon gutting their
a lesbian or you are not
er she was far from the
a lesbian. There was a
stage at Massey Hall,
neighbourhood
pause, she laughed and
she was standing under
we headed out the door
the morality lights in the
school.
in a much happier frame
school parking lot.
of mind.
Kathleen wanted to
When Kathleen was
address the Baycrest
parents but was denied the opportunity elected School Trustee for Ward 8,
by the principal. Now most politithe Harris cuts were beginning to bite.
cians would simply have gone home to Rather than conduct an across-thetheir families and turned on ‘Law and
board slashing of the TDSB budget by
Order.’ Not Kathleen. She staked out a some $90 million to balance the books,
place in that clammy, slowly darkena group of trustees conducted public
ing parking lot until the meeting broke hearings that led to a ‘Need to Succeed’
up so she could speak to the parents as budget that reflected the true cost of
they came outside.
running the TDSB. If implemented, it
This impressed the heck out of me
would have increased funding from the
on a couple of levels. First that she had province by $374 million.
the tenacity to tough it out for an entire
Wynne was one of the leaders of a
hour in what was a rather menacing
caucus of school trustees who devellocation. The second was that she even oped the proposal and stood up to the
bothered to canvas the parents at BayTories. When the trustees voted down
crest at all. Baycrest is a small Special
the proposal to make the $90 million
Needs school and there were not a
in cuts, the TDSB, along with school
whole lot of votes to be gained there.
boards in Hamilton and Ottawa, were
Indeed she is the only politician in my
taken over by the province. Even then,
26 years at the school who ever saw fit the province couldn’t balance the
books.
Throughout all of the upheaval,
Kathleen held regular Ward 8 meetings,
however they were decidedly unorthodox ones. She would report on the doings at the school board and then throw
the meetings open to a free wheeling
discussion amongst the people present.
The sense of betrayal was palpable.
Many of these people had voted for
Harris and yet he seemed bent on
gutting their neighbourhood school.
At times the gatherings felt less like a
Home and School Association meeting
than a clandestine council of an Occupy the Mowat Block cell. There was
a strange sort of dissonance given the
“
”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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|Toronto Teacher|
KATHLEEN AND ME
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
well coifed North Toronto ladies present and their fiery rhetoric.
It was a given that I would work on
her next school trustee campaign. As
far as I was concerned she had established her bona fides not just through
her reaching out to the folks at Baycrest but her willingness to stand her
ground against the Harris government.
On Election Night I took the results
from my poll to her house. However
I was instructed to go the kitchen and
out the back door. Then I was to cut
across her backyard, through a gate and
knock on the back door of a house that
was kitty corner to her own. I was let in
the house and led to the living room.
There I encountered what appeared
to be a husband and wife, the husband
hunched over a card table as he jotted
down figures. It was only later on that
I found out that the man was in fact
Kathleen’s ex-husband.
When they separated Kathleen
and her husband Phil Cowperthwaite
agreed that they wanted as little disruption to their children’s lives as possible.
Consequently, Phil bought the house
that shared a fence with his former
residence so that the children could
go back and forth between the their
mom’s house and their dad’s house
whenever they wanted.
In 2003, Kathleen made a run for a
seat at Queen’s Park. My home riding,
Toronto-Danforth, is about as safe an
NDP riding as exists in Canada and
rather than bounce the rubble of a
futile Conservative campaign against
Marilyn Churley, I decided to give
Kathleen’s campaign a hand. She was
running against an old Tory war horse
and cabinet minister David Turnbull.
It seemed unlikely she would win in
this affluent North Toronto riding but
I went out and knocked on doors in
Leaside.
However the oddest thing occurred.
Don Valley West did contain Leaside,
North Toronto and York Mills but it
also contained Thorncliffe Park. Traditionally, tenants are much less likely to
vote than home owners, but Kathleen
pulled out astonishingly large numbers of them. Moreover as I made my
rounds knocking on doors in Leaside I
was surprised by the positive reception
I received.
When it came time to pull the vote
on Election Day she was able to marshal a veritable army of workers on the
ground. What was even more interesting was the make up of her scrutineers.
It seemed as though every third person
I talked to was a teacher. She ended up
winning by a comfortable margin, 51%
to 44% of the vote.
I lost track of Kathleen as she made
her way up the caucus ladder. She
started as parliamentary secretary, a
sort of second in command for Gerard Kennedy and Sandra Pupatello at
Education and took over the portfolio
during a cabinet shuffle in the fall of
2006.
An election was called for October
10, 2007 and Kathleen appeared to
be in trouble. John Tory a moderate
Conservative from Toronto had been
elected leader of the Ontario PCs
and was running in Don Valley West,
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| Toronto Teacher |
June 2013
Kathleen’s seat. Although she enjoyed
the advantages of incumbency, Tory
obviously had a much higher profile
and the PCs would move heaven and
earth to get him elected.
My principal, Wayne Copp, retired
that June just before the election and I
got upon my hind legs at his party to
deliver a few words. After I finished,
I ducked outside for a smoke and was
astonished to see a sleek, black limousine idling at the curb.
Of course I did what I usually do in
such situations. I approached the one
way windows and waved wildly at the
occupant inside. No response, not that
I was expecting one.
Then I looked up and lo and behold,
there was Kathleen striding down
the sidewalk towards me. Although
Wayne himself had not personally
invited her to his retirement party she
got wind of it and schlepped all the
way out to the Eastern edges of Scarborough to be there.
What was even more astonishing
was that she remembered not only
who I was but the situation at my
tiny Inner City school. I considered
palming my cigarette but figured if
she could be up front about her sexual
orientation I could do the same with
my addictions.
We chatted for a bit about life at
Queen’s Park, schools in general and
then I brought up the election. Her
mouth tightened a bit and then she
smiled. She allowed that it would be
an uphill fight but that she thought she
could pull it off.
As the school year began we had an
editorial meeting to discuss possible
articles and what issues would be of
particular interest to the membership.
We decided to get in touch with Kathleen and see if we could get her take
on the state of education generally and
the election in particular.
I have done any number of these
sorts of interviews and inevitably they
take place in an ornate office or at
some massive mahogany boardroom
table while a press flack stands at the
ready with a tape recorder in hand
ready to leap in if the interviewee
‘misspeaks’ his/herself.
Instead Del received an e-mail from
Kathleen suggesting we pop by her
house on the weekend. We walked up
even more affluent than the last time
the driveway past a yellow grocery
around, York Mills. Yet again I was
getter car and knocked on the front
surprised by the number of tax lawyers,
door. We were led to the front parlour
thoracic surgeons and stock brokers
and a pair of leather love seats.
who said that they were going to vote
What you see on TV is what you get for Kathleen.
from Kathleen in person. She speaks in
Mind you, Tory did not help his
complete sentences devoid of the ‘Um’ cause with his bone headed promise to
and ‘Ah’ most people use to gather
extend public school funding beyond
their thoughts. Indeed there are times
Catholic education to other faith based
when her thoughts seem to outrun her
schools. Still, it was an unlikely coaliability to voice them and she has to
tion of forces who gathered at her
stop, regroup and start again. Morevictory party. There were teachers, yes
over her training as a mediator comes
but outnumbering them were North
through in these situations. Instead
Toronto accountants and Afghan cab
of staying on message, pontificating
drivers from Thorncliffe Park. She
previously developed talking points,
won, walking away 51% to 44%.
she actually listens, giving the impresAs 2007 rolled into 2008 negotiasion that she is almost drinking in the
tions appeared on the horizon. Before
speaker’s words. She tilts
the province took over
her head slightly to the
financing education, local
side and looks at you. As
school boards negotishe starts to grasp where
ated contracts with their
. . .Tory did
your words are leadteachers and paid their
ing to she begins to nod
salaries from the property
not help his cause tax base.
almost imperceptibly
before she replies.
The exception were
with his bone
The discussion was
poorer, mostly rural
pretty wide ranging,
boards whose
headed promise school
from the Funding Forfunds were subsidized
mula to OFIP to EQAO
to extend public by the province. Now it
to surplus schools.
was the province who
Although she was well
gave money to the school
school funding
briefed on her portfoboards based on a highly
beyond Catholic flawed funding formula.
lio, she did not fall into
the temptation of most
The Tories got
education
to
other
politicians to appear
around the problem of
omniscient. She was canunderfunding by using
faith based
did and did not hesitate
the school boards as a
to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t
firewall. “Look”, they’d
schools.
know the answer to that
say, “We give plenty of
question,” or “I don’t
cash to the school boards.
have access to that detail
We can’t help it if they’re
of information.”
stupid with money.” It worked to a
As we were about to leave I asked
certain extent with the public at first
what she thought of the upcoming elec- but less so as the years went by. What I
tion, she paused and said, “Well, it’s
didn’t realize is that the Liberals were
going to be tough but it’s winnable.” I
taking note of this strategy.
couldn’t resist a final one. “So, what do
As is typical, our contract expired
the neighbours think when the limoubefore a new one was signed. However
sine pulls up?” It was the only time
instead of bargaining money issues
I saw her flustered. She said, almost
with the province as we did in the
apologetically, that yes, she did have a
previous round of negotiations, the
limousine and talked about what a terOntario Public School Boards Associarific guy her driver, Brian was and how tion (OPSBA) was going to represent
it let her get work done on her way to
management.
Queens Park.
This allowed the provincial Ministry,
This time I canvassed a poll that was and Kathleen, to stand back and say,
“Whoa there, we have nothing to do
with this. It is up to the unions and the
school boards to come to an agreement.” This was disingenuous at best.
OPSBA could only negotiate money
issues on the basis of what funds the
province supplied to them. In the end
Kathleen came in with a take it or leave
it proposal that resulted in a 2% wage
decrease for ETFO, relative to the other
unions, as a penalty for our militancy.
Let’s be honest, the money did bug
me. It may have been a paltry amount
but the message it sent was that we
were naughty children who needed to
be chastized. More than that was the
mendacity of the exercise.
There was the posturing that somehow the negotiations were left to
OPSBA, that the province had nothing
to do with it. Yet when it came down
to the short strokes, the province in the
person of Kathleen herself delivered an
ultimatum and told us what we would
have to accept.
It may well be that she was con-
“
”
|| T o r o n t o T e a c h e r ||
cerned that she was seen as the ‘teach- expecting was Sections 14 and 15 and up one side of her and down the other.
ers’ minister’ and needed to distance
the statement that the Ontario Labour
I was going to hold her feet to the fire
herself from that characterization. It
Relations Board could not refer to the
over this, Instead I found myself warmcould be that she needed to make a
Ontario Human Rights Code or the
ing to her, drawn in by her seeming
swing to the right to broaden her apConstitution and that no court, includ- earnestness and sincerity.
peal within the Liberal Party to further ing the Supreme Court, could review
She intimated that the Liberals were
her political ambitions. Whatever the
it.
not solidly behind the approach Laurel
reason, I soured on Kathleen Wynne
She was flummoxed but as in the
Broten had chosen. I came away with
and vowed never to work for her again. past was candid and did not try to
the sense that there were two factions
In the years that followed Kathleen
bull her way through it. “I’m sorry,
within the Liberal party who were
moved from Education to TransportaI haven’t read this before.” She read
duking it out and this dynamic did play
tion to Municipal Affairs and Aborigiover the two sections just to make sure itself out at the convention. In the end
nal Affairs.
they said what I said they did. “Well I
we agreed to disagree and I waved a
I noted these moves with
cheery good-bye as I headed
some slight interest before turnout the door. It wasn’t until I
ing the pages of the Globe to the
was halfway home that the
editorial cartoon. However I was
thought struck me. What the
Robert Millard first clued me
still on her e-mailing list and
heck just happened to me?
received regular invitations to
Kathleen went into the
in to the fact that there was something Liberal leadership convention
socials with the Minister, messages I promptly deleted.
trailing Sandra Pupatello in the
fishy in the Liberal’s Bill 115, ‘Putting
Robert Millard first clued
number of committed delegates.
me in to the fact that there was
Moreover more of the party
Students First’ Act. . . . the Minister
something fishy in the Liberal’s
brass and caucus backed her
Bill 115, ‘Putting Students First’ of Education had placed herself and the
opponent. I looked at the figures
Act. When I downloaded it,
and determined that it was a
I discovered that, courtesy of
Liberal government above the Ontario lock, for Wynne.
Sections 14 and 15, the Minister
I had seen her in action,
of Education had placed herself
Human Rights Code, the Canadian
canvassing voters, schmoozing
and the Liberal government
with constituents and figured
Charter of Rights and Freedoms and
above the Ontario Human
that she would make up the
Rights Code, the Canadian
difference easily. Sure enough
the
Supreme
Court.
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
she and her campaign adopted a
and the Supreme Court.
second choice strategy whereby
Coincidentally an e-mail
she was BFF with the other canfrom Kathleen’s office indidates and I was not surprised
formed me that she was
when Hoskins, who Pupatello
don’t know what to say, I don’t have
working Second Cup coffee shops
believed would be supporting her,
in her riding on Saturday mornings and an answer.”
broke and went over to Wynne. Once
I explained that what really riled
invited me to stop by for a chat and a
again Kathleen won decisively, 1150 to
teachers
was
the
government
saying
coffee. I decided to take her up on her
866, or 55% to 45% of the vote.
that we were greedy and all we cared
offer.
So what sort of Premier will Wynne
It was a grey and drizzling Septem- about was money. I pointed out that
be? First and foremost, a very astute
even before we knew the contents of
ber morning when I tooled up to the
one. She has that politicians’ gift of not
Bill
115,
OSSTF
said
they
would
acSecond Cup north of Lawrence and
only being able to put names to faces
cept a pay freeze and likely we in the
Yonge. And yes, there was Kathleen
but recalls the incidental details of their
Elementary panel would as well.
standing just inside the doorway as
lives.
It really was about a matter of
chipper as ever, flagging down patrons
As mentioned previously, she also
principle.
Our
constitutionally
guarand offering to sport them to a cup of
has the knack of concentrating excluanteed Freedom of Association and
coffee.
sively on the person she is speaking to
due process would be legislated out of
It was many years since I had last
and has the ability to listen intently to
spoken to her but she had that uncanny existence.
what they are saying rather than look
Kathleen
conceded
my
points
but
politician’s knack of remembering a
for an opportunity, witness Broten, to
then said that she wanted the problem
face. More than that however, she redeliver a predetermined message.
membered Baycrest and marveled that solved through negotiations. How, she
I find it telling that the Ministry she
my hair was not grey. I explained that I wanted to know, could the province
picked to head was Agriculture. It is
negotiate with teachers if they left the
put shoe polish in it every morning.
an area where she lacks direct experitable after only one hour of talks.
We made our way to a table and I
ence and knowledge and will help her
Over the next ten minutes or so she
got out Bill 115. I’m not sure what she
shed her image as a Toronto, big city
returned to this theme, the need to sit
was expecting. Perhaps a complaint
Premier. Already she has restored some
down
and
come
to
some
sort
of
conabout the government’s imposition of
subsidies to the horse racing industry,
sensus. However, as we talked some
a contract. Perhaps the fact that the
an important concern in many rural
thing entirely unforeseen occurred. I
government refused to undertake real
areas.
went to the Second Cup prepared to go
negotiations. But what she was not
That being said, she has a core of
“
”
steel and can be quite inflexible when
she sets her mind to it. In the 2008
round of bargaining, she used OPSBA
as a firewall to hide her role in the contract talks but was not above coming in
at the last moment with the ultimatum
and the 2% cut in our salaries.
She was elected de facto Premier at
the Liberal convention on January 27
and met shortly thereafter with Sam
Hammond and the other presidents of
the teacher unions. Hammond stated at
the time that, “It was the first meeting
I’ve had with government representatives in over a year that were positive
in tone and approach.”
Be that as it may, those words were
spoken over three months ago, as of
this writing, and there seems to be little
if any movement by Wynne and her
government. The one concession is a
pledge not to revoke our constitutionally guaranteed Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Speech. In other
words, that they have no plans to break
the most fundamental laws of the land
again.
A punter would look at the Liberal’s
current situation and lay heavy bets
against them in the next election. A
massive deficit, a shrinking manufacturing base, the scandals at E-Health,
ORNG, the $600 million gas plant
cancellation bill and alienated teachers,
once their most active base of campaign workers, taken together should
foretell a massive defeat at the polls for
the Liberals.
But that does not take into account
the Wynne factor. Many commentators
have noted that the longer she stays in
office, the more support she receives.
Currently she has a 40% approval
rating from the public, a rating that
continues to rise and drag her party
along with her.
It is a long way from the parking
lot of Baycrest Public School to the
Premier’s office. And I must admit to
a small personal problem. Despite the
2% gap in salary increases from the
previous round of negotiations and
the current unwillingness to negotiate
meaningful changes to our imposed
contract I still have a residual respect
for Kathleen. She was on the right side
of so many of our causes and put in
long arduous hours of work on behalf
of our schools and our kids when she
could have been at home enjoying her
family. It is hard not to feel some, well,
affection really, for the woman and to
wish her well. Just not too well.
ETT Stewards’ meeting
5
|Toronto Teacher|
School Evaluation
Site
Surveys Family
Staff ReturnedGrade
A
Adam Beck Jr PS
ER11
22
16
Africentric Alternative WR2
13
10
Agincourt Jr PS
ER19
13
9
Agnes Macphail Jr PS
ER19
13
10
Albion Heights Jr MS
WR1
31
6
Alexander Muir/Gladstone Ave Jr/Sr PS
WR7
22
11
Alexander Stirling PS
ER20
22
22
Alexmuir Jr PS
ER19
25
Allenby Jr PS
WR3
39
13
Alpha Alternative
WR7
6
Alpha II Alternative
WR7
Amesbury MS
WR5
32
18
Ancaster PS
WR3
32
7
Annette St Jr/Sr PS
WR7
24
13
Anson Park PS
ER13
14
Anson S Taylor Jr PS
ER19
15
9
Arbor Glen PS
ER17
15
Arlington MSl
WR8
25
Armour Hghts PS
WR3
20
9
Avondale E & S Alternative ER17
20
11.8
11.6
17.4
16.7
12.6
16.4
16.4
14.6
12.8
17.2
12.5
6.4
16.2
B
Bala Av Community WR5
21
Balmy Beach Community Jr ER11
19
7
13.7
Banting & Best PS
ER19
24
12
13.4
Baycrest PS
WR3
11
8
15.1
Bayview MS
ER17
29
8
12.4
Beaches Alternative Jr
ER11
4
Beaumonde Hghts JMS
WR1
37
14
14.2
Bedford Park Jr PS
ER16
25
Bellmere Jr PS
ER14
25
21
12.1
Bendale Jr PS
ER14
22
18
5.1
Bennington Hghts ES
ER16
13
Berner Trail Jr PS
ER20
24
7
15.7
Bessborough Dr ES
ER16
34
20
6.9
Beverley Hghts MS
WR2
33
10
17.2
Beverley Jr PS
WR9
12
Beverly Glen Jr PS
ER18
23
11
15.6
Birch Cliff Hghts PS
ER12
14
11
12.7
Birch Cliff PS
ER12
19
12
13.6
Blacksmith PS
WR2
17
15
11.2
Blake Street J PS
ER10
17
12
17.8
Blantyre PS
ER12
15
Blaydon PS
WR2
14
10
14.3
Bliss Carman Sr PS
ER13
21
16
6.3
Bloordale MS
WR4
23
16
13.4
Bloorlea MS
WR6
13
Bloorview/Macmillan - Bloorview
25
12
14.8
Blythwood Jr PS
ER16
17
11
15.4
Bowmore PS
ER11
44
9
11.7
Braeburn JS
WR1
17
8
10.6
Brian PS
ER18
23
17
8.1
Briarcrest Jr PS
WR4
18
10
13.6
Bridlewood Jr PS
ER18
12
9
15.8
Brimwood Blvd Jr PS
ER19
23
23
7.9
Broadacres Jr WR4
17
16
6.6
Broadlands PS
ER15
23
13
18.3
Brock Jr PS
WR7
12
Brookhaven PS
WR5
32
9
7.8
Brookmill Blvd Jr PS
ER18
20
Brooks Rd PS
ER20
23
Brookside PS
ER20
34
11
12.8
Brookview MS
WR2
30
15
7.4
Brown PS
WR8
29
18
7.6
Bruce Jr PS
WR10
12
Buchanan PS
ER12
23
15
16.2
Burrows Hall Jr PS
ER20
17
Calico PS
WR2
24
9
16.1
Cameron PS
ER17
15
Carleton Village Jr/Sr PS
WR8
30
5
9.6
Cassandra PS
ER15
19
9
12.8
CD Farquharson Jr PS
ER19
24
13
14.6
Cedar Dr Jr PS
ER13
60
17
16.2
Cedarbrook Jr PS
ER14
16
7
8.1
Cedarvale Community WR8
25
10
15.3
Centennial Rd Jr PS
ER13
15
Chalkfarm PS
WR2
13
7
15.1
Charles E Webster Jr PS
WR5
5
8.6
Charles G Fraser Jr PS
WR7
18
10
10.4
Charles Gordon Sr PS
ER14
31
7
12
Charles H Best MS
WR3
18
8
10.5
Charlottetown Jr PS
ER13
24
20
11.3
Chartland Jr PS
ER19
13
9
14
Cherokee PS
ER18
11
5
8.2
Chester Elementary
WR10
27
12
7.1
C
6
| Toronto Teacher |
June 2013
Site
Chester Le Jr PS
Chief Dan George PS
Chine Dr PS
Church St Jr PS
Churchill Hghts PS
Churchill PS
City View Alternative Sr
Claireville JS
Clairlea PS
Claude Watson / Arts
Cliffside JPS
Cliffwood PS
Clinton St Jr PS
Cordella Jr PS
Cornell Jr PS
Corvette Jr PS
Cosburn MS
Cottingham Jr PS
Courcelette PS
CR Marchant MS
Crescent Town ES
Cresthaven PS
Crestview PS
Cummer Valley MS
Surveys Family
ER18
ER20
ER13
WR9
ER14
ER17
WR7
WR1
ER12
ER17
ER12
ER17
WR9
WR5
ER14
ER12
WR10
WR8
ER12
WR5
ER11
ER17
ER18
ER17
Staff ReturnedGrade
10
10
16
15
10
9
16
10
22
11
16
8
1
25
20
24
20
8
9
19
18
22
9
13
9
50
33
28
16
29
7
5
14
6
22
68
15
8
27
17
35
17
20.4
17.3
16.4
16.7
5.8
14.5
15.1
19.1
8.9
18.4
15.1
13.8
11.9
12.8
15.3
19.6
19.4
16
D
DA Morrison MS
da Vinci School
Dallington PS
Danforth Gdns PS
David Hornell JS
David Lewis PS
Davisville/Metro / Deaf Daystrom PS
Deer Park Jr/Sr PS
Delta Alternative Sr
Denlow PS
Dennis Ave Community Derrydown PS
Dewson St Jr PS
Diefenbaker Elementary
Dixon Grove Jr MS
Don Mills MS
Don Valley JHS
Donview MS
Donwood Park Jr PS
Dorset Park PS
Dovercourt Jr PS
Downsview PS
Downtown Alternative Dr Marion Hilliard Sr PS
Driftwood PS
Dublin Hghts E & MS
Duke Of Connaught Jr/Sr PS
Dundas Junior PS
Dunlace PS
ER11
WR9
ER18
ER12
WR6
ER18
WR8
WR1
WR8
WR9
ER16
WR5
WR2
WR7
WR10
WR4
ER15
ER18
ER15
ER14
ER12
WR7
WR2
WR9
ER20
WR2
WR3
ER11
WR10
ER16
32
14
4
3
28
18
30
10
11
21
11
24
7
35
14
28
3
28
13
6
29
19
23
12
21
14
46
21
24
13
4
25
8
40
13
20
14
13
13
8
5
5
21
9
28
19
31
18
40
16
19
10
20
9
9.4
13.5
13.7
17
17.4
15.9
14.5
14.8
12.1
6.3
16.7
6.7
7.5
19.4
17.5
13.4
19.4
15.2
13
5.3
9.1
13.6
15.6
18.1
E
Earl Beatty Jr/Sr PS
ER11
21
15
12.1
Earl Grey Sr PS
WR10
22
14
15.8
Earl Haig Jr PS
ER11
25
9
13
EAST(East Alternative School of Toronto)
WR10
3
3
20.3
Eastview Jr PS
ER13
25
Eatonville JS
WR4
14
Edgewood PS
ER14
13
9
9.4
Eglinton Jr PS (Spectrum Alt School Sr)
WR8
24
17
8
Elia MS
WR2
28
Elizabeth Simcoe Jr PS
ER13
16
12
20.1
Elkhorn PS
ER17
21
Ellesmere-Statton PS
ER12
37
26
17.2
Elmbank JR-MS Academy WR1
37
7
9.1
Elmlea JS
WR1
24
18
14.2
Emily Carr PS
ER20
34
18
8.3
Ernest PS
ER18
14
4
17.7
Essex PS
WR9
21
10
11
Etienne Brule JS
WR6
12
7
10.4
Etobicoke Outdoor Ed Ctr
Fairbank Memorial Commun WR8
16
Fairbank MS
WR3
15
15
9.9
Fairglen Jr PS
ER18
14
Fairmount Jr PS
ER13
20
12
14.8
Faywood Arts Based Curriculum WR3
21
7
8.3
Fenside PS
ER15
23
7
13.4
Fern Avenue Jr/Sr PS
WR7
26
7
15.9
FH Miller Jr PS
WR8
10
4
17.8
F
Site
Surveys Family
Finch PS
ER17
Firgrove PS
WR2
First Nations School
WR10
Fisherville JHS
WR3
ER20
Fleming PS
Flemington PS
WR3
Forest Hill Jr & Sr PS
WR8
Forest Manor PS
ER15
Forest Valley Outdoor Ed Ctr
Frankland Community Jr PS WR10
Staff ReturnedGrade
15
12
27
12
13
10.5
9
18
8
25
20
31
44
24
2
16
9
11.3
11.8
16
20
12.2
15.4
17
G
Galloway Rd PS
ER20
14
12
14.8
Garden Ave Jr PS
WR7
13
10
14.2
Gateway PS
ER15
55
General Brock PS
ER12
20
General Crerar PS
ER12
19
16
20
General Mercer Jr PS
WR8
12
George Anderson PS
WR5
15
8
10.4
George B Little PS
ER20
30
11
12
George P Mackie Jr PS
ER13
10
9
17.9
George Peck PS
ER12
14
George R Gauld JS
WR6
12
9
16.7
George Syme Community WR5
26
16
9.3
George Webster ES
ER11
26
16
13
Givins/Shaw Jr/Sr PS
WR7
15
12
15.4
Glamorgan PS
ER15
45
35
9.4
Gledhill Jr PS
ER11
26
18
11.6
Glen Ames Sr PS
ER11
25
14
10.4
Glen Park PS
WR3
26
9
16.2
Glen Ravine Jr PS
ER14
16
10
15.4
Glenview Sr PS
WR3
32
20
18
Golf Road Jr PS
ER14
20
10
18.2
Gordon A. Brown M
ER11
20
10
18.3
Gosford PS
WR2
15
9
5.1
Gracedale PS
WR1
44
34
17.1
Gracefield PS
WR5
21
Greenholme JR-MS
WR1
32
Greenland PS
ER15
12
7
15.2
Grenoble PS
ER15
52
8
16
Grey Owl Jr PS
ER20
16
14
17.4
Guildwood Jr PS
ER13
13
Gulfstream PS
WR1
31
19
12.5
H
HJ Alexander Community
WR5
40
17.9
HA Halbert Jr PS
ER13
20
8
13.5
Harrison PS
ER16
16
10
14.7
Harwood Jr PS
WR5
15
11
12.3
Hawthorne II Bilingual Altern WR9
9
7
10.1
Heather Hghts Jr Ps
ER20
21
7
16.1
Henry Hudson Sr PS
ER20
29
Henry Kelsey Sr PS
ER19
33
17
11
Heritage Park PS
ER20
28
High Park Alternative Prmy WR7
9
8
10.3
Highcastle PS
ER20
25
Highfield JS
WR1
46
39
7.8
Highland Creek PS
ER19
12
9
18
Highland Hghts Jr PS
ER17
18
Highland JHS
ER19
13
Highview PS
13
12
9.9
Hillcrest Jr PS
WR8
20
12
17.6
Hillmount PS
ER17
20
19
16.2
Hilltop MS
WR4
30
13
6.9
Hodgson Sr PS
WR8
18
Hollycrest MS
WR4
21
Hollywood PS
ER17
11
6
17.1
Horizon Alternative WR9
4
7.8
Howard Jr PS
WR7
31
11
11.9
Humber Summit MS
WR1
33
19
15.2
Humber Valley Village Jr MS WR4
21
12
14.1
Humbercrest PS
WR6
36
9
14.8
Humberwood Downs JM Academy
WR1
53
Humewood Community WR8
21
16
11.1
Hunter’s Glen Jr PS
ER14
26
4
18
Huron Street Jr PS
WR9
23
20
17.8
I
Indian Road Cres Jr PS
WR7
Inglewood Hghts Jr PS
ER19
Ionview PS
ER12
Iroquois Jr PS
ER19
Island Public/Natural Science WR9
Islington Jr MS
WR6
18
10
15
6
25
12
15
13
13
27
13.4
11.2
10.5
17.7
J
Jack Miner Sr PS
ER13
14
6
8.8
Jackman Ave Jr PS
WR10
37
20
12.1
| T o r o n t o T e a c h e rr ||
Survey Results 2013
Site
James S Bell Jr MS
JB Tyrrell Sr PS
Jesse Ketchum Jr/Sr PS
JG Workman PS
John A. Leslie PS
John Buchan Sr PS
John D Parker JS
John English JMS
John Fisher Jr PS
John G Althouse MS
John G Diefenbaker PS
John McCrae Sr PS
John Ross Robertson PS
John Wanless Jr PS
Joseph Brant Sr PS
Joseph Howe Sr PS
Joyce PS
JR Wilcox Community JS Woodsworth Sr PS
Surveys Family
WR6
ER18
WR9
ER12
ER13
ER19
WR1
WR6
ER16
WR4
ER20
ER14
WR3
WR3
ER13
ER13
WR3
WR8
ER14
Staff ReturnedGrade
22
23
21
40
17
13
21
22
12
40
17
29
30
12
29
19
7
27
13
28
17
32
21
21
21
14
17
16
16
11
19
13
19.2
15.4
13.6
15.4
5.7
8.6
13.5
16.1
15.3
13.5
12.6
11.5
11.5
K
Karen Kain School of the Arts WR6
9
10
18.7
Keele St Jr PS/Mountview Alt PS
WR7
24
10
16.1
Keelesdale Jr PS
WR5
15
10
14.5
Kennedy PS
ER18
28
13
17.5
Kensington Community Jr
WR9
11
8
14
Kew Beach Jr PS
ER11
20
10
15.4
Kimberley Jr PS
ER11
18
17
11
King Edward Jr/Sr PS
WR9
22
25
17.8
King George Jr PS
WR6
11
12
15
Kingslake PS
ER18
25
15
5.9
Kingsview Village JS
WR4
50
21
11.3
Knob Hill Jr PS
ER14
30
9
11.6
L
Lamberton PS
WR2
25
17
4.3
Lambton Kingsway JR MS WR6
35
20
14
Lambton Park Community WR5
13
8
7.9
Lanor JMS
WR6
30
13
15.2
Lawrence Hghts MS
WR3
21
Ledbury Park E & MS
WR3
23
13
10.9
Lescon PS
ER18
24
8
17.2
Leslieville Jr PS
WR10
22
4
12.8
Lester B Pearson PS
ER17
25
22
15.4
Lillian PS
ER17
20
10
13.9
Lord Dufferin Jr/Sr PS
WR9
51
9
17.3
Lord Lansdowne Jr/Sr PS
WR9
16
9
11.6
Lord Roberts Jr PS
ER14
27
15
9.3
Lucy Maude Montgomery Jr/Sr ER20
25
7
13.1
Lucy Mccormick Sr
WR7
13
10
5.7
Lynngate Jr PS
ER19
15
10
11.9
Lynnwood Hghts Jr PS
ER19
10
Macklin PS
ER19
32
Malvern Jr PS
ER20
25
15
19.7
Manhattan Park Jr PS
ER12
12
7
15.8
Maple Leaf PS
WR5
20
14
13.9
Market Lane Jr/Sr PS
WR9
25
16
12.8
Mary Shadd PS
ER20
31
14
4.7
Maryvale PS
ER12
19
15
12.1
Mason Rd Jr PS
ER13
24
Maurice Cody Jr PS
WR8
28
20
10.5
McKee PS
ER17
45
21
16.9
McMurrich Jr PS
WR8
28
7
13.3
Meadowvale PS
ER20
15
13
15
Melody Village JS
WR1
23
13
7
Military Trail PS
ER20
31
12
10.4
Mill Valley Jr PSl
WR4
14
7
14
Milliken PS
ER19
18
10
9.9
Millwood Jr PS
WR4
23
15
10.7
Milne Valley MS
ER15
33
19
13
Montrose Jr PS
WR9
15
8
16.3
Morrish PS
ER20
19
15
10.5
Morse Jr PS
WR10
14
13
11.5
Muirhead PS
ER18
12
10
15.8
Muki Baum / Anthony PS
M
N
Nelson Mandela Park PS
WR9
15
15
14.5
Niagara St Jr PS
WR7
12
Norman Cook Jr PS
ER12
11
Norman Ingram PS
ER15
12
6
19.2
Norseman Jr MS
WR6
25
North Agincourt Jr PS
ER19
22
16
19.9
North Bendale Jr PS
ER14
11
5
20
North Bridlewood Jr PS
ER18
15
10
13.6
North Kipling JMS
WR1
43
12
13.6
Site
North Preparatory Jr PS
Northlea E & MS
Norway PS
Surveys Family
WR3
ER16
ER11
Staff ReturnedGrade
15
46
16
14
17
7
11.9
9
15.9
O
Oakdale Park MS
WR2
42
22
13.4
Oakridge Jr PS
ER12
46
23
12.5
O’Connor PS
ER15
13
6
19
Ogden Jr PS
WR7
11
8
13.8
Orde St PS
WR9
19
17
15.5
Oriole Park Jr PS
WR8
10
7
11
Ossington/Old Orchard Jr PS WR7
14
16
20.4
Owen PSl
ER16
36
7
13.7
P
Palmerston Ave PS
WR9
30
14
15.4
Pape Ave Jr PS
WR10
17
13
11.8
Park Lane PS
ER16
13
7
17.8
Park Lawn Jr MS
WR6
27
18
7.9
Parkdale Jr/Sr PS
WR7
70
19
9.1
Parkfield Jr S
WR4
22
11
16.9
Parkside ES
ER11
11
8
18.1
Pauline Johnson J PS
ER19
17
9
13.2
Pauline Jr PS
WR7
13
Pelmo Park PS
WR5
21
14
13.3
Percy Williams Jr PS
ER19
20
15
12.2
Perth Ave J PS
WR7
18
11
16
Pierre Laporte MS
WR2
23
11
16.6
Pineway PS
ER17
13
Pleasant PS
ER17
24
Pleasant View JHS
ER18
19
Poplar Rd Jr PS
ER13
14
11
15.8
Port Royal PS
ER19
22
16
11
Portage Trail Community MS WR5
19
13
13.2
Portage Trail Community JS WR5
25
18
8.2
Presteign Hghts ES
ER11
10
9
15.1
Princess Margaret Jr PS
WR4
22
12
18.2
Pringdale Gdns Jr PS
ER14
Queen Alexandra Sr PS
WR10
24
8
15.6
Queen Victoria Jr PS
WR7
54
Quest Alternative Sr
WR19
3
R H McGregor ES
WR10
32
23
4.7
Ranchdale PS
ER15
17
Rawlinson Community WR8
30
22
15.7
Regal Rd
WR8
25
18
12.7
Regent Hghts Jr PS
ER12
30
14
13.5
Regent Park/Duke of York Jr WR10
46
Rene Gordon ES
ER15
14
9
7.1
Rippleton PS
ER16
19
9
18.3
Rivercrest Jr WR1
15
5
6.4
RJ Lang E & MS
ER17
31
Robert Service Sr PS
ER13
13
12
14.2
Rockcliffe MS
WR5
26
11
15.2
Rockford PS
WR3
41
19
10.8
Roden Jr PS
WR10
30
4
18.3
Rolph Rd ES
ER16
21
15
14.4
Rose Avenue Jr PS
WR9
39
26
13
Rosedale Jr PS
WR9
12
Roselands Jr PS
WR5
13
13
16
Rosethorn JS
WR4
17
15
18.7
Rouge Valley PS
ER13
15
Roywood PS
ER15
15
11
19.1
Runnymede Jr/Sr PS
WR6
50
27
7.7
Ryerson Comm Jr/Sr
WR7
24
20
9.3
Q
R
S
Samuel Hearne MS
Scarborough Village Alt PS
Second St JMS
Secord Elementary Selwyn ES
Seneca Hill PS
Seneca School
Seventh St Jr
Shaughnessy PS
Sheppard PS
Shirley St
Shoreham PS
Silver Springs PS
Silverthorn Jr PS
Sir Adam Beck Jr
Sir Alexander Mackenzie Sr Sir Ernest Macmillan Sr PS
Sir Samuel B Steele Jr PS
Sloane PS
ER12
ER14
WR6
ER11
ER11
ER18
WR4
WR6
ER15
WR2
WR7
WR2
ER18
WR5
WR6
ER19
ER18
ER18
ER15
19
10
17
12
30
40
28
14
12
18
12
11
11
4
13
4
24
4
14
5
23
25
19
30
23
7
23
20
18
23
16
8
11
18.8
5.9
17
13.7
9.3
10
10
18.6
Surveys Site
Family
Staff ReturnedGrade
Smithfield MS
WR1
43
32
10.8
Spectrum Alternative
WR8
3
Sprucecourt Jr PS
WR9
23
St. Andrew’s JHS
ER14
24
8
16.8
St. Andrew’s PS
ER16
20
St. George’s JS
WR4
12
4
14.5
St. Margaret’s PS
ER20
24
20
8.8
Stanley PS
WR2
23
16
5.9
Steelesview PS
ER17
17
Stilecroft PS
WR2
19
7
10
Summit Hghts PS
WR3
22
13
18.5
Sunny View Jr/Sr. PS
ER16
25
10
14.9
Sunnylea JS
WR6
13
10
17.5
Swansea PS
WR6
30
Tam O’Shanter Jr PS
ER19
19
13
17.3
Tecumseh Sr PS
ER14
18
8
2.8
Terraview-Willowfield PS
ER15
18
6
15
Terry Fox PS
ER18
28
12
10.4
The Elms Jr MS
WR1
44
9
3
The Grove Community WR7
5
5
10.2
The Waterfront WR7
10
Thomas L Wells PS
ER20
33
16
18.3
Thorncliffe Park ES
ER16
100
35
10
Three Valleys PS
ER15
19
15
9.3
Timberbank Jr PS
ER19
12
5
16.6
Tom Longboat Jr PS
ER20
24
17
12.8
Topcliff PS
WR2
23
13
13
Tumpane PS
WR2
24
Twentieth St Jr WR6
19
14
18.4
Tor Dist Elemen - Sect 23
4
12
T
V
Valley Park MS
Valleyfield Jr Victoria Park ES
Victoria Village PS
Vradenburg Jr PS
ER16
WR4
ER11
ER15
ER18
70
17
10
18
23
22
11
7
16
10
10
15.3
14.4
13.6
18.6
W
Walter Perry J PS
Warden Ave Jr PS
Warren Park Jr PS
Wedgewood Jr Wellesworth Jr
West Glen Jr
West Hill PS
West Humber JMS
West Preparatory Jr PS
West Rouge Jr PS
Westmount Jr Weston Memorial Jr PS
Westway Jr Westwood MS
Wexford PS
White Haven Jr PS
Whitney Jr PS
Wilkinson Jr PS
Willam Burgess ES
William G Davis Jr PS
William G Miller Jr PS
William J Mccordic William Tredway Jr PS
Williamson Rd Jr PS
Willow Park Jr PS
Willowdale MS
Wilmington ES
Winchester Jr/Sr PS
Windfields JHS
Winona Dr Sr PS
Withrow Ave Jr PS
Woburn Jr PS
Woodbine JHS
ER13
ER12
WR6
WR6
WR4
WR4
ER20
WR1
WR8
ER13
WR4
WR5
WR4
WR10
ER12
ER19
WR9
WR10
WR10
ER13
ER13
ER11
ER14
ER11
ER14
ER17
WR3
WR9
ER16
WR8
WR10
ER14
ER18
25
12
28
7
12
20
9
17
8
15
10
18
9
26
24
9
14
18
12
19
11
14
10
26
9
31
13
28
14
17
9
37
10
21
16
15
24
13
15
12
30
23
27
11
33
12
25
14
13
12
28
16
20
14
25
9
31
14
29
18
13
13.3
15.8
12.3
6
18.7
14.2
15.6
18.4
16.1
9.7
12.8
18.1
16.7
15.3
13.1
17.6
10
11.7
16
12.5
14.3
13.1
7.9
12.8
16
10.6
11.4
14.7
Y
Yorkview PS
Yorkwoods PS
ER17
WR2
31
23
18
14
11.9
8
Z
Zion Hghts JHS
ER17
22
13
5.5
18.3
16
17.8
Total score out of 21.
***No results as school staff decided not to submit surveys due to
circumstances at school, e.g., acting/interim principals, new administrators or ratings of multiple
13.3
7
|Toronto Teacher|
Rebranding the Liberals
The Cuddly Bunny Speaks
I
t is somewhat of a relief to find out
that Bill 115 was not sheer stupidity
on the part of the Liberals, that they
saw it as part of a larger strategy. Swing
to the right by imposing Bill 115 on
teachers and soft Conservative voters
in the Kitchener-Waterloo by-election
would drop into their lap and they
would have their majority government.
Unfortunately it didn’t work that way
and the Liberals came in third.
However I was curious. Who were
the tacticians responsible for this blunder? Did they have any other strategies
to pick up votes for the Liberals and
come up with the last elusive seat to
give Wynne a majority and the opportunity to close down the parliamentary
inquiry into the gas plants fiasco?
A contact at Queen’s Park came
up with someone deep in the Liberal
campaign team. Needless to say, he did
not want to go by his real name but by
his alias, ‘Cuddly Bunny.’
We met at the underground parking
lot at Queen’s Park. Cuddly Bunny, or
Cuddles as he is sometimes known,
turned out to be a fleshy man in his late
fifties, early sixties, sporting a Harry
Rosen three piece suit, and puffing on
an twelve inch cigar.
Occasionally a car could be heard
coming down the parking garage ramp
or driving up towards the exit. When
this happened, Cuddles grabbed me
by the bicep and hauled me into the
shadows until it passed by. He sweated
profusely throughout the entire interview.
I wanted to know what their thinking was on imposing Bill 115. Cuddles
winced and then spoke.
“Yeah, what a cat’s hairball that
turned into. See we figured, throw
the teachers to the Conservatives in
Kitchener, throw them a bit of red meat,
show that we could be as hard nosed as
Mike Harris, give the Liberal brand a
bit of cojones. I mean, this Premier Dad
business is OK with the ladies, they go
for this Sensitive-New-Age-Guy type
of thing.
“But do you want to be in the rec
room, the game on a 48 inch flat screen
with some wuss in a cardigan watching Colton Orr beating on one of the
Bruins? Naw, you want a man’s man,
some guy who even if he can’t frame a
house by himself, can at least drive in a
nail without leaving hammer marks.
“The Kitchener-Waterloo by-election was the perfect situation to show
we were as capable of Dumb Guy ideas
as Tim Hudak.”
So Bill 115 was an attempt at rebranding the Liberal Party?
“Sure. You have to refresh your
image from time to time. That’s why
GM and Ford change advertising agencies, rebrand their products and pull
in new buyers. Why else do you think
political parties dump their leaders?
It’s like switching from Ogilvie Mather
to McCann Erickson. We had become
the Dodge Caravan of politics and we
wanted to inject a bit of Hummer into
it.”
8
| Toronto Teacher |
June 2013
I asked if they have any other strategies to freshen up you image? Cuddles
appeared distinctly uncomfortable and
stared at the garage floor.
“Yeah we had a few but they got
shot down.”
Could he expand on what they
were?
“Well you gotta understand this was
just blue sky thinking, lobbing some
ideas out there and seeing if anyone
would catch them.”
I waited a bit. Cuddles took a puff
on his panatela and then spoke in a
rush of words.
“See we got this deficit problem.
I mean it’s OK to have your all-day
Kindergartens, lower class sizes and
increased graduation rates but someone
has to pick up the tab for all that. And
we thought who better than the kiddies? I mean, they’re getting all of the
benefit of it, right?
“What we figured we would do is
have the teachers sell crack cocaine
to the kids. The teachers are already
picking up money for field trips, pizza
lunches and Scholastic book sales, so it
would be no skin off their noses.
“You’ve got your captive audience
of ready consumers and have you seen
the profit margins on crack? Astronomical! We would have cut the deficit
in half by the first year. Plus you’ve got
your childhood obesity problem. Give
the kids a crack pipe instead of a snack
before recess and zoom, off they’d
go careening around the schoolyard.
They’d be running flat out for the
whole fifteen minutes and the pounds
would just melt away!
“So what you have here is what you
call a win-win situation. Lower deficit,
skinnier kids. Mind you, you could
have a bit of a problem with them
kids being a bit cranky before the next
recess.”
“But the Premier didn’t go for it?”
“Naw, she said crack cocaine had
what she called unsavoury connotations.”
At this point he made quotation
marks in the air with his fingers around
the words unsavoury connotations.
“She said that crack was seen in the
public’s mind as linked with prostitutes
and she didn’t want prostitution as part
of the Liberal brand.”
Cuddles gave a hollow laugh.
Did he have any other ideas?
Cuddles was about to respond when we
heard the sound of an engine gearing
down. Once again I was pulled behind
a support pillar. After the headlights
raked the walls of the garage and disappeared, he spoke.
“Well yeah, I got to thinking of,
what’s his name, that Premier of Quebec back in the forties and fifties.”
“Maurice Duplessis of the Union
Nationale,” I ventured.
“Yeah that’s him Maurice Duplessis. See back then you could tell if you
were in a Liberal riding or a Union
Nationale riding by the kind of road
you were driving on. You’d be zipping
along on some nice, fresh asphalt and
then Bam! you’re skittering from side
to side down a gravel road.
“Old Maurice knew how to reward
his supporters and punish his enemies.
You want to vote Liberal, go ahead, it’s
a free country. But don’t expect to see
any new roads, schools or hospitals in
your town if you do. What we decided
to do was take a page from old Maurice
but go him one better.”
Cuddles paused to take a pull on his
cigar.
“Again this whole business with
the deficit was busting our chops. It
made us look as though we couldn’t be
trusted to run a candy store let alone a
province. We had to whack that sucker
down or Tim Hudak would eat our
lunch at the next election.
“So we got out a map that showed
the results from the last election and
like old Maurice did, we figured out
who were our friends and who were our
enemies. Did you know that Haldimand
Norfolk went 60% Conservative to
20% Liberal in the last election? So
we figured we would pay the folks in
Brantford a bit of a visit.
“See the horse racing industry was
negotiating with us for a larger take
from the slot machines to keep their
tracks open so they’d be willing to lend
the OPP as many horses as we wanted.
It was genius! I mean, who doesn’t like
horses? Who wouldn’t want thoroughbreds associated with the Liberal brand?
“We’d get the boys out of the OPP
cruisers, up on horseback, give them
some sabres and set them loose on the
downtown. Picture it, a squad of sword
wielding cops on horseback galloping
down Main Street and into the Home
Depot. They’d empty the bank vaults,
the cash registers, pick up any loose
valuables and then torch the place.”
“Set fire to Brantford! Isn’t that a bit
extreme?” Cuddles spat on the pavement.
“You’re missing the big picture.
Think of how it would stimulate the
economy! After all, these businesses are
going to have to be rebuilt, construction
money would pour into the town giving the provincial GDP a goose. Don’t
forget, every bag of cement and every
board would pay the HST. And don’t
forget the cash and other items the OPP
stuffed into their saddle bags. When
you combine the OPP plunder with the
increase in tax revenue we would make
out like bandits.”
“There was some resistance to your
idea?” Cuddles shrugged and paused
before responding.
“Well she liked the horses.”
There was another pause.
“Naw, she didn’t like it at all. Kept
quibbling about how she didn’t want
the image of sabre wielding policemen
silhouetted against burning buildings
associated with the Liberal brand.
“Now you got to agree what we’re
talking here is a Real Man image. I
mean, you wouldn’t find a wimp swinging three feet of tempered steel over
his head while the women and children
ran for cover. But no, we can stick it to
teachers but we’re not allowed to do it
to civilians.”
Cuddles had finished his cigar and
was looking up and down the car ramp.
It was obvious our interview was at an
end. Just before leaving, I asked if there
was anything else in the works. He
broke into a smile then put a finger over
his lips.
“Well I can’t go into any details.
We’re still just in early days.”
He looked around before speaking.
“What do you think of monster
trucks?”
|| TT oo rr oo nn tt oo TT ee aa cc hh ee rr ||
Reading with the Angels
by Bruce Stodart
Y
ou would think I was giving
away tickets to the Raptors.
“Who wants to read with
the Reading Angels?”
The hands shoot up, the kids
squirm in their seats.
“Me Mr Stodart! Pick me! I
haven’t read with them for a long
time!”
Not willing to prolong the agony, I
make my choice. There is a collective
sigh of disappointment as the lucky
chosen one goes to a book bin to
select some books to take with them.
Then they march down the hall to the
library or staffroom where a bubbe
awaits them.
The Reading Angels program has
been in operation, in one incarnation
or another, for the past seven years.
One half or the participants are the
students at the school, the other half
elders from the Terraces residence at
the Baycrest Geriatric Centre.
The Reading Angels came about
through a chance meeting I had with
Sean Fremeth, a social worker at
Baycrest. He had a number of clients
who not only loved kids but wanted
to continue to give back to the community. We at the school had children
who needed a bit of a boost, a bit of
encouragement with their reading. It
truly was a match made in heaven.
At the time we were fortunate
to have Mary Cole as our Literacy
Coordinator and it was she who initiated the program. Before the Angels
began to read with the kids she ran a
mini workshop on reading strategies
and the different cuing systems. As
the Angels were in their eighties and
nineties, they grew up in a system
that emphasized ‘sounding out’ words
and Mary wanted to ensure that they
would encourage the children to use
the other systems as well.
The school has a book room filled
with leveled books. Mary wanted to
ensure that each child had a supply
of books appropriate for their reading
level. These were placed in baskets
that had the particular child’s name
on it. These baskets were then put in
the place to which each Angel was
assigned: the library, the computer lab,
the bookroom, the library office and
the staffroom.
This worked well enough when
Mary, and later myself as librarian, had the time to monitor how the
Angels and children were progressing and when it was time to pick up
another child. However as Prep began
to consume more and more of my
time, it was not possible for me to be
available each time the Angels arrived
and another system was devised.
There is a master list of the Reading Angels, where they will be
working and the children they will
be seeing. In the morning, I consult
with Anna the secretary and determine
which students are here and who are
away. The ones who are absent are
stroked off the list and other children
substituted. Like clockwork, the
Angels arrive by shuttle bus between
10:15 and 10:30 on Fridays. They
congregate in the staffroom while I
go to the Kindergarten class to collect
their first clients. Once Angels and
readers are together in the staffroom,
they move to their appointed place.
When the child has finished reading,
they go to the office. Anna pages the
classroom of the next child on the
Angel’s list and asks that this child go
to read with their Angel.
A one hour Reading Angel session
has two parts. For the first twenty
minutes or so, the Reading Angels
read aloud to the little ones. The emphasis is on concepts of print, locating individual words and sounds and
most importantly that reading is fun.
Each Angel has a bin of colourful and
engaging picture books the child can
choose from.
In the second half, the older kids
come with books they are currently
reading. The Angels listen to the child
read, discuss unknown words, sometimes with the help of a dictionary,
and what is happening in the plot. I
am constantly amazed by two things.
First that the Angels are able to intuit
where the child needs help and ways
of addressing it. The second is how
our most difficult kids are transformed
during their session with their Reading Angel. Children who can be defiant and challenging in the classroom
become attentive and calm when they
are with their Angel. As Elizabeth
noted, a lot of the work they do is
building up a child’s self esteem
When asked if they enjoy reading
with their Angel, the Kindergarten
children are emphatically positive. Although they have some difficulty expressing why this is the case, most of
the responses are, “She is nice.” They
thrive under the undivided attention of
an important grownup for the half hour
with them. The older children are just
as positive but more reflective. It is
not just reading that takes place when
they get together with their Angel. One
Grade 5 girl admitted that she received
advice about hair and nail polish from
her Angel. Another said she knew her
Angel cared about her. When asked
why she knew this it was because her
Angel always asked her friend, who
read after her, when the girl was away.
She knew her Angel was concerned
about what was happening with her.
So what do the Angels get out of
it? One thing that came up again and
again in my conversations with them
was the intergenerational connection.
As Helen put it, we live in a “fractionalized” society in which the elderly
tend to live together, separated from
the very young. While they may have
grandkids, frequently they live in other
cities.
Katie’s live in Vancouver and Victoria. Similarly many of the children
do not have grandparents close at
hand and the Reading Angels program
promotes that almost magical connection that exists between the very old
and the very young. Kitty was asked
by one of the children how old she
was. She responded by asking how
old the child was. “Nine,” replied the
child. “Well,” said Kitty, “If you add
91 to your age, that is how old I am.”
She was tickled by the dumbfounded
expression on the child’s face after
they did the Math. Of course, as Jennie
noted, she is sensitive to the questions
she poses to the children. She avoids
asking questions based on the supposition that there is both a mother and
father at home. This does not prevent
the children themselves posing some
interesting questions of their own.
When Helen said to one of her charges
that they looked like her granddaughter
because she was missing her two front
teeth as well, the little girl wanted to
know if the granddaughter was a half
or a quarter. Helen was perplexed until
she realized the child, being of mixed
race, was asking if her grandchild was
a quarter or half white. “Well, dear, I
suppose she looks like me.” was her
gentle response.
Our school is blessed by its close
proximity to one of Canada’s premier
geriatric facility and retirement homes.
Consequently it is comparatively easy
for our Angels to make their way to the
school. Nonetheless there are retirement homes peppered throughout the
city containing any number of elders
who would love to give back to the
community, spend some time with the
children and reestablish that special
bond that exists between the old and
the young.
9
|Toronto Teacher|
E
D
I
T
O
R
I
A
L
Into the Wild
W
Toronto Teacher
e are fortunate to have a public
park beside our school and even
more blessed that there is a small sliver
of land around the western periphery
that the city let go wild. That experiment began two or three decades ago
and already the saplings and bushes
that established themselves there have
thrived into substantial maples and
beeches, and shrubs higher than I can
reach above my head. The children
have christened it ‘The Wild Area’ and
every couple of weeks I take my small
charges across the grass and dandelions that forms the city park proper to
explore it.
We have a routine established for
our visits. Run, for the kids really do
need to run, to the first set of benches.
Run to the second set of benches and
catch your breath. Walk over towards
the Wild Area and sit down on the
grass before it.
Look for the changes that occurred
since we were last here. Are there more
leaves on the trees? Is the path into it
becoming narrower, more overgrown
as the thistles, quackgrass and violets
reestablish themselves after their winter
dormancy? What can you hear above
the thrumming of the Allen Expressway? Is that a new bird call?
Spring is a glorious time in the Wild
Area. As we walk along the edge there
are shrubs and bushes, the names of
which I do not know, that send forth
cascades of pink and white or lemony
yellow flowers. The pink and white
blossoms, once pollinated, lose their
petals and form a fruit, a sort of chokecherry that the birds enjoy but are bitter
to the taste.
After the lemony yellow blossoms
drop to the ground a seedpod, not
unlike a miniature snow pea, forms
and the children pry them apart and
examine the contents with their friends.
I suppose I should be more perspicacious as a teacher, go to the library and
pick up a book on shrubs native to the
Carolinian Forest but for myself I prefer to keep my own private names for
them, the Lemony Pea Shrub, the Wild
Apple Bush.
For some inexplicable reason, this
is fertile ground for snails, an ideal
animal, if you think about it, for small
children. Snails are anything but
speedy, are easy to catch, have a nice
hard shell to hold onto and a satisfyingly slimy underside. For the first couple
of visits the boys, being boys, pick up
10
the snails and run with outstretched
arms after the squealing girls but it
doesn’t last long.
Eventually curiosity overcomes one
of the girls, she crouches down and
stretches out a tentative hand. Soon she
has a snail of her own and all the other
girls are combing the branches and
leaves of the bushes for their very own
snail.
Of course the children want to take
their snail home but I establish that the
Wild Area is already their snail’s home.
If I am feeling particularly didactic, I
will use the term ‘habitat’ repeatedly.
But mostly I try to communicate the
sanctity of all life and how something
so seemingly insignificant as a snail
has a right to its own.
They put their snails back on the
shrub before we move on. I don’t suppose this plucking and close examination does the snail much harm, but it
must be a disorienting nuisance for the
poor things.
As a child, my home was on the
banks of the Don River and red wing
black birds were as thick as sparrows.
I had always associated them with
cattails and slowly moving water. But
it’s a curious thing. There are throngs
of them in the Wild Area as the shrubs
offer perfect nesting sites for their
broods.
In early May, the males establish
their territory and try to chase off any
other male who might try to invade it.
Frequently there will be a flash of red
and yellow against jet black as two or
three of them wheel through the trees
and across the sky.
As we patrol the edge of the Wild
Area, we can hear the trilling of a male
red wing blackbird before we see his
red and yellow shoulder patches. Even
the Grade 1s are beginning to distinguish by song and sight the difference
between them other birds. As we make
our way to the path into the Wild Area,
there are fingers jabbed in the air and
cries of ‘Red wing blackbird!’
A high wire mesh fence runs parallel to the path that runs through the
Wild Area. It also cordons off the Wild
Area from the highway ramp below
that leads from Yorkdale to the Eastbound 401. I can’t imagine how it is
possible for it to be quieter in the Wild
Area than the park with the traffic accelerating onto the collector lanes but
it always seems that way. Perhaps it is
the play of dappled light and shadow
The opinions and views expressed in
Toronto Teacher
are those of the writers, or those interviewed,
and are not necessarily those of the Editorial
Board, or the Elementary Teachers of
Toronto.
We invite your contributions.
Please send ideas/submissions, letters,
articles, photos, graphics, cartoons, etc.
to any of the Editorial Board
members listed here.
DESIGN / ROSE DI ZIO
PRODUCTION / CENTURY GRAPHICS, TORONTO
| Toronto Teacher |
June 2013
DAVID BANERJEE
MONTROSE PUBLIC SCHOOL
Anna Jessup
DEL MILBRANDT
EDITOR EMERITUS
Robert Millard
ELLEN PETERS
WESTWAY JUNIOR SCHOOL
BRUCE STODART
BAYCREST PUBLIC SCHOOL
across the forest floor, the height of
trees above us but it does seem quieter
there and the kids are too.
Before the trees leaf out, there are
small star shaped flowers of yellow
on the ground but at this time of year
they have mostly gone to seed. There
is a bush of exquisite pink flowers but
little colour elsewhere. Come summer,
purple and white phlox will spring up
in the sunny patches and in September
the little ones will be head high with
flowers. We check the trees and bushes
for seeds and snails. We throw maple
keys in the air to watch them helicopter
down to the ground.
In late April, when the ground is
brown with dead and dormant plant
life, I have the children join hands
and walk six across a path that opens
up to the park. We repeat this process
each time we come to the Wild Area
until the thistles have thrust up and
will scratch the bare legs of any child
in shorts or a sundress. By the end of
June, the pathway is so thick with waist
high vegetation that the thought that we
could at one time walk through unopposed has the quality of a half remembered dream.
One time I decided to go exploring a
little further off the path with the Grade
3s. Of course some of the boys wanted
to head off ahead of us but as soon
as I saw their backs heading into the
bushes I called out to them. But they
had already stopped before a sheet of
cardboard and a sleeping bag.
An empty water bottle and a couple
of potato chip bag wrappers were
strewn on the ground. As the rest of the
Toronto Teacher is the membership
newspaper. It is a free press, and any
teacher in the Toronto District School Board
may write for Toronto Teacher.
Every teacher’s opinion is important,
and we encourage your input.
It’s your paper. Write for it!
Have a lesson plan, educational
commentary, book review, humour,
or a great idea you’d like to
contribute to the Toronto Teacher?
Send your contributions
for our next issue to
[email protected]
children gathered round I explained that
this was someone’s bed and that they
were not to disturb it. There was disbelief and confusion on their faces at first,
after all I was known to play pranks
on them but the expression on my face
let them know I was deadly serious. I
explained to the best of my ability what
homelessness was, its causes and consequences. But I could not match the
eloquence of that sleeping bag and sheet
of cardboard under the sumacs.
Quite a year it’s been. Mass meetings and Samba led protests. Shoes full
of slush outside Maple Leaf Gardens
and my female colleagues bundling me
into borrowed parka when on the picket
line. Sitting down at a Second Cup with
the soon to be Premier and confronting
her on the implications of Bill 115 and
getting up on my hind legs at stewards’
meetings to question our negotiators.
Shouting profanities at Laurel Broten’s
voice coming out of my car radio and
standing on the school steps, singing
“We’re Going to Roll the Union On”
with Elizabeth, a 90 year old Reading
Angel.
But life goes on and teaching goes
on. There may be no extra-curricular
activities but there are worms for the
classroom composter, caterpillars to
turn into butterflies, soils to test and
beans to germinate. Aside from these
more conspicuous activities are those
commonplace epiphanies, those ‘Ah
ha!’ moments when a concept or skill
that seemed so far beyond a child’s
grasp is captured. The small victories
that grace our year as teachers. No
doubt you have had your share, a counterweight to the turbulent times we’ve
lived through.
I am retiring at school’s end. It
should be high summer, that last week
of school. If I don’t suggest it myself,
the kids no doubt will. As they line up,
squirming with excitement, I’ll buzz
Anna in the office and let her know
we’re off. We’ll walk across the parking lot to the edge of the park. Then
I’ll shout “Run!” and watch my kids
bounding through the dandelions to the
first benches. The Wild Area, deep and
dark and cool awaits.
|| TT oo rr oo nn tt oo TT ee aa cc hh ee rr ||
EDUCATION UPDATE
California looks to
Ontario schools’
reformer for guidance
Michael Fullan may be coming soon
to a school district in California.
The man credited with transforming the Canadian province of Ontario
into one of the world’s most effective
school systems is ready to help California do the same. Fullan, though,
would lead the state in a sharply different direction from the forced march
that federal officials in Washington,
DC have led over the past decade.
“I want California to become an
alternative model to No Child Left
Behind; that would be a great thing
to aspire to,” Fullan said last month
during an interview in Sacramento.
Instead of improvement through the
“negative drivers” of standardized
testing and quick school turnarounds,
he would shift the focus to improving instruction through “motivational
collaboration” between teachers and
administrators.
California is full of education leaders eager to listen to, if not act on, his
advice on systemic reform.
During his swing through Sacramento in April, Fullan:
• Led a four-hour discussion for
about 100 administrators and employees at the State Department of Education on changing their mission from
monitoring districts’ program compliance to helping to build up districts’
strengths;
• Conducted an all-day seminar for
20 superintendents at the Superintendents Executive Leadership Forum,
run by the UC Davis School of Education, on how the district office can
support classroom-based innovation;
• Dined with superintendents of the
nine districts that have applied for a
joint waiver from the No Child Left
Behind law; their application promises
to incorporate some of the methods
that Fullan instituted in Ontario.
New standardized tests
feature plugs for
commercial products
Talk about corporate-based school
reform. New high-stakes standardized
tests aligned with the Common Core
State Standards are featuring plugs for
commercial products. And the companies didn’t have to pay a penny.
Yes, New York state students who
this past week took Pearson-designed
exams were just treated to plugs for
LEGO, Mug Root Beer and more
products from at least half a dozen
companies, according to the New York
Post.
One teacher who administered the
test was quoted as saying:
I’ve been giving this test for eight
years and have never seen the test
drop trademarked names in passages
— let alone note the trademark at the
bottom of the page.
Students said the product plugs
sometimes had nothing to do with the
question, the Post said. Marco Salas,
an eighth-grader at the Forest Hills
middle school, was quoted as saying:
For the root beer, they show you a
waitress cleaning a table and the root
beer fell on the floor and she forgets to
clean it up. Underneath, they gave you
the definition that it is a soda and then
the trademark.
The new Common Core-aligned
tests were originally trumpeted as
a major improvement over earlier
exams in their ability to assess student
learning, but they haven’t been the
‘game-changer’ US Education Secretary Arne Duncan had promised.
‘Saudization’ drive leads
to school closures
A number of schools in Saudi Arabia
have been closed this week as expatriate teachers stay away in fear of being
rounded up and deported.
Saudi and expatriate parents have
complained that private schools in the
main cities of Riyadh and Jeddah have
been unable to teach their children.
The reason the teachers are staying
away is that they believe they fall foul
of changes in Saudi labour law aimed
at reducing the country’s decades-long
dependence on expatriate workers.
With most of the teachers coming
from abroad, the schools have found
themselves without staff as employees
remain at home in order to evade the
net of arrests and deportations. Many
small businesses have also reportedly
been staying shut for the same reason.
There have been protests outside
the Saudi embassy across the border
in Yemen against the new measures as
thousands of Yemeni workers in Saudi
Arabia are arrested and deported.
Other nationalities who make up
Saudi Arabia’s eight-million strong
foreign workforce have also expressed
their anxiety about losing their livelihoods.
Saudi labour laws now demand that
all businesses have a certain number
of Saudi employees. If they do not,
they face fines.
New labour laws have also tightened the requirement that foreign
workers should not be employed by
anyone but their original sponsors.
This potentially affects millions of
expatriates.
In the education sector, foreign
teachers often work for more than one
school, which could now put them at
risk.
UK weak in school
fairness rankings
The UK is below average in an international comparison of social mobility
within school systems.
The Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development
(OECD) produces rankings of school
performance - but it has now published an analysis of fair opportunities
for pupils.
It shows that Shanghai in China,
South Korea and Finland are among
top performers in both results and
equity.
The UK is successful in results, but
weaker in fairness.
This OECD study compares the
reading skills of teenagers against the
levels of social equity.
The Programme for International
Student Assessment (Pisa) tests published by the OECD show a strong
link between social disadvantage and
low achievement in school.
“On average across OECD countries, disadvantaged students are twice
as likely to be among the poorest
performers in reading compared to
advantaged students,” says the report,
based on an analysis of tests taken in
2009.
But this study says there is nothing
inevitable about this connection between social background and achievement.
High Results, Highly Equitable
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Finland,
South Korea, Canada, Japan, Iceland,
Estonia, Netherlands, Norway,
Liechtenstein, Taiwan, Italy, Ireland
Source: OECD. School systems with above
average results in reading and higher equity
levels
At the top of the international
spectrum, Shanghai, Finland, South
Korea, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and
the Netherlands are among a select
group of school systems with very
high results and high levels of fairness,
where pupils can succeed regardless of
background.
Zimbabwe’s
David Coltart: 18% pass
rate is progress
Zimbabwe’s education minister has
deplored the fact that nearly 82% of
students have failed their basic school
leavers’ exams, the Ordinary Level.
But David Coltart told the BBC this
was an improvement on 2009, when
only 14% passed and blamed a decade
of ‘chaos’.
His Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) joined President Robert Mugabe’s government in 2009 to
end Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis. Zimbabwe used to have
one of the best education systems in
Africa.
The results reflect the political and
economic decline the country has
witnessed over the past decade, correspondents say.
Last month, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the government only had
$217 (£138) in its public account after
paying civil servants.
Mr Coltart told the BBC’s Focus on
Africa program that the results were
sobering. “I’m afraid this was inevitable. There’s been so much chaos in
Zimbabwe’s education system in the
last decade that it was inevitable that
children’s education would be affected
in this way.”
“If you don’t have teachers, if
you don’t have textbooks, ultimately
literacy and numeracy proficiency
drops, and that is eventually reflected
in examination results.”
Mr Coltart said the 82% failure
rate was an improvement on previous
years.
“In February 2009, the pass rate was
14.4%. It’s now 18.4%,” he said. “We
are improving it but there’s still a lot of
work to be done.”
The coalition government is due to
end later this year when elections are
held.
Mexico union head
Gordillo charged with
organized crime
Union leader Elba Esther Gordillo,
considered Mexico’s most powerful
woman, has been charged with fraud
and organized crime.
Ms Gordillo, who runs the 1.5 million-member Mexican teachers’ union
(SNTE), was arrested on suspicion of
embezzling $200m.
She reportedly spent millions at a
US department store, on plastic surgery, property and a private plane.
Her arrest came a day after the enactment of major educational reforms.
The reforms are designed to change
a union-dominated system in which
teaching positions could be sold or
inherited.
Under the changes, teachers will
have to undergo regular assessments,
something that has previously never
taken place inside Mexico’s primary
and secondary schools.
Critics say the changes could signal
the start of the privatization of education in Mexico.
UN envoy condemns
murder of Pakistan
school teacher
UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown has condemned the
shooting of a female teacher in Pakistan on Tuesday as a ‘Malala-style’
incident.
Shahnaz Bibi was shot dead by two
motorbike riders as she disembarked
from a passenger van near the school
where she taught in the Khyber tribal
region.
The Taliban attempted to kill
schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in October.
The teenage campaigner for girls’
education survived being shot in the
head by gunmen in Swat - a bullet was
later removed from her skull by surgeons. The Taliban said they targeted
her for ‘promoting secularism.’
In a statement Mr Brown said that
she fought for girls’ education in Pakistan and that he had written to President Zardari calling for heightened
security measures to protect girls and
teachers going to school.
11
|Toronto Teacher|
Building A Dream
B
aron Rothschild was once
asked whether he found it
peculiar to grow up in what
was essentially a palace, surrounded by a legion of servants including
one whose sole job was to shine the
family’s shoes. He replied that as a
child you simply take what is given
to you, that you assume that the
way you live is the way everyone
else lives.
So too is it for the children of
Senchi, a small village in Ghana.
However their lives are distinctly
different from the Rothschild’s.
Senchi is lacking what we would
consider essential amenities; no
electricity, no indoor plumbing or
running water and a school building that is literally falling down.
Still, on one level, life is good
for the kids who live there. Although
too poor to own shoes, let alone a
soccer ball, they are endlessly inventive, creating games with whatever
they have at hand. And in soccer-mad
Ghana, anything will do as a soccer
ball, a jute bag wrapped in tape, even
an orange.
The saying, “It takes a village to
raise a child.” certainly applies there. If
you are getting into mischief, someone
is bound to see you and report you to
your parents. If the teacher sees you
wandering around after 8pm, he will
want to know why you aren’t in bed
getting enough sleep for school tomorrow. Education is a serious business in
Senchi despite the obstacles in place.
ETT member Kwabena Frimpong
certainly knows this to be true. Born
and brought up in Senchi, he attended
school. Although the teachers used
corporal punishment to keep order in
classes that could have as many as 68
students in them, he recalls them as
being diligent and fair. Indeed it was
the initiative of one of his teachers that
raised enough money to send him to
secondary school and eventually allowed him to earn a teacher’s certificate that brought him to Canada.
When Kwabena was a child, the
classrooms were crowded but the
building itself was serviceable. Howev-
er when he returned to Senchi in 2009
for a visit after decades long absence,
both he and the two colleagues accompanying him were appalled at what
they saw.
Cracks ran up the walls calling into
question the safety of the building. In
several places the roof was caved in.
When he asked the kids what they did
when it rained, and Ghana does have
a rainy season, the kids replied, “Well,
when it rains we go home.”
The people of the village lacked the
necessary funds to perform the maintenance on the buildings, let alone the
repairs. Senchi is a long way from the
capital, Accra and the old saying, “Out
of sight, out of mind.” applied in this
case.
Some people would simply throw
their hands in the air and walk away.
Not Kwabena. The children needed
a new school and he would see that
they got one. There were two school
buildings in Senchi and the second one
was not quite as derelict as the other.
All of the children were moved into
this second building while the first one
was demolished. There are six classes
ranging in size from 59 to 62 children
in this building. The exception is the
kindergarten where 68 children are
taught in what Kwabena describes as a
‘chicken coop.’
This move occurred in 2010 and
ever since he has been raising funds
and setting up the mechanisms to
ensure that the school is constructed on
time and on budget.
Although Ghana is the third least
corrupt country in all of Africa, according to Transparency International,
problems remain. Kwabena set in place
a system whereby the work by the
contractor on the ground receives spot
checks from a supervisor in the neighbouring large town of Kumasi who
would in turn be subject to oversight
from a supervisor in Accra. Moreover,
most of the work is done during the
summer when Kwabena can be on site
himself.
It’s been three years and while
progress has been slow, particularly for
the children of the village, progress has
been made. The foundation for the new
building was laid and the floor installed. Interior and exterior walls have
risen, topped by the roof trusses and
joists that await the galvanized sheeting. Once the roof is on they will need
doors, windows, chalkboards, chairs
and desks.
When complete the school will
have six classrooms, a library, a
computer
lab, storage areas, a washroom
and a staff common room.
Kwabena could stop there
but he has bigger dreams. Even
during the rainy season, there are
hours of sunshine during the day.
In the dry season sunlight pours
out of the sky.
When the walls were built,
wiring was installed. What he
envisions are photo-voltaic panels
on the school’s roof that
will generate electricity for the
computer labs and the class
rooms. A pump will draw water
from a well and allow indoor
plumbing and spare the kids the
unsanitary and humiliating necessity of using an outhouse.
As it will be the community’s
sole building with power and light,
it will become the community’s
centre. More than that, Kwabena
sees the Senchi school as a model
for neighbouring communities to
construct new schools of their own.
When asked when he thinks the
school will be finished, Kwabena
laughs. “If money was not the
issue, it would be done tomorrow.
If we are lucky, it could be 2015.”
But money is the issue. Although
we in Canada would be shocked to
see how much can be accomplished
in Ghana with a small sum of
money, the photo-voltaic panels,
the classroom furniture, the doors
and windows have to be purchased.
Given Kwabena’s drive and energy,
the school will be built but the question is when. It must seem tantalizingly
close for the children who trudge by the
construction site to their overcrowded
makeshift classrooms. They know they
must wait but wonder for how much
longer.
This has been a year to sour the soul.
The imposed contract, the suspension
of our basic civil rights, the outright
lies and misrepresentations from our
provincial government has resulted in
desperately low morale and a justifiably
crabbed, cynical attitude. Let’s face it,
there’s not been a lot of joy and light.
What participating in the Senchi School
Project provides is the opportunity to
tap into the generosity and sense of social justice all of us as teachers possess.
The Senchi School Project has a
website: www.senchischoolproject.
ca. There you can view photographs
of the dilapidated old school, the new
school rising, the children of Senchi
and find out how you can be a part of
this remarkable venture.
Kwabena himself can be reached at:
[email protected]. In
the past he has made thought provoking
presentations at schools, presentations
that have raised questions in the students’ minds as to what responsibilities
they have as global citizens.
Marshall McLuhan spoke of the
‘Global Village.’ Increasingly the world
has become one. If it is true that it does
take a village to raise a child, as members of this Global Village, through the
Senchi School Project, we have the
opportunity to not only raise a school in
Senchi but help raise the children who
live there as well.
TORONTO TEACHER. It’s your paper. Write for it!
Have a lesson plan, educational commentary, book review, humour, or a great idea you’d like to contribute to the
Toronto Teacher? Send your contributions for our next issue to t o r o n t o t e a c h e r @ m a i l . c o m
12
| Toronto Teacher |
June 2013

Toronto Teacher - Volume 3, Number 2

Transcription

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