A Forum for Educators That Want to Change the World!
September 26, 2014
La Presse is reporting today that Couillard Liberals are planning a massive education reform that includes the abolition of school boards, reduction of private school subsidies by 50%, reduction in the number of ministry exams and the creation of a professional order by teachers.
Candidates for EMSB Chair Angela Mancini and Anne Lagacé Dowson discuss school board cuts with CBC’s Mike Finnerty. Click here to listen.
Be sure to verify that you are eligible to vote in English school board elections by calling 1 (888) 353-2846
Anne Lagacé-Dowson, Robert Green and Trudy Mason discuss cuts to parental leave and the Couillard government’s austerity agenda.
By By Anne Lagacé Dowson | Published by The Montreal Gazette
Don Macpherson doesn’t miss much. As the dean of Quebec political journalists, and a parent too, Macpherson sees the warning signs embedded in a report by the Quebec education ministry that was dropped into the silence of the summer.
The report is a devastating report card for our English-language school boards in Quebec. It demonstrates that they have failed to stay in touch with the new realities of language in Quebec. As the report mentions, a virtual cascade of parents who have the legal right to English-language schooling for their children are instead choosing schools in the French-language system.
More and more parents who could send their kids to English-language schools have decided that they do not have confidence in these schools. They are voting with their feet. They have decided that English-language schools are not equipping their kids with what it takes to thrive in the New Quebec.
Parents now realize that to be able to make a living in Quebec, and put down roots in this province, their children need to be able to speak the language of the majority — and speak it well.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/English+schools+survive/10174759/story.html
Published August 31, 2014 by Voices for BC Education
Imagine a client hires you for a job. The pay isn’t great but the work is steady and you like the hours.
A little while later they come back and tell you that the scope of the job has grown substantially and they understand you can’t do it alone so they let you hire a team of 10 people. With 10, you can do the job, just. It’s more challenging but you agree.
As time goes by they stop paying some of your team. You find yourself with a skeleton crew. You go to head office and tell them what is happening. They tell the client they have to pay for the 10 people they agreed to hire.
The client comes back saying they won’t and tries to rewrite the terms of your agreement. You stop working. They stop paying.
They come back to you and say… we will hire you back, just you, not your team. The condition? They will hire you if and only if you agree to sign this document that says “Should head office decide more people are needed to complete the job, either party can tear up the contract.” and the client doesn’t have to hire more people.
Would you do the job?
E80 is asking us to agree to let the government decide if they will abide by the court rulings. It’s giving them the right to tear up our contract if they don’t like what the courts have to say. Would you agree to that? Would you go back to work?
Teachers want to be in the classroom. They want to be teaching but they can’t if E80 is part of the deal.
Montreal Teachers 4 Change.org 