School boards or no school boards? That is indeed the question, yet again, as the Ontario Legislature considers Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act.
In seeking to quell several controversial issues, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra came down firmly on the side of keeping them. But he continued the approach of his and previous governments by reducing their authority, yet again, in the face of mismanagement.
Introduced in the spring legislative session, the bill gives the provincial government sweeping new powers over school boards designed to strengthen oversight and increase financial accountability and transparency. For example, the bill will require boards to publicly post school board trustee expenses.
Under the proposed legislation, the government can step in sooner to take over a board if its financial management is in question, without having to appoint a supervisor and await a report.
The move was prompted by several high-profile cases where school boards spent money on pricey staff retreats and other questionable items while others are running significant budget deficits.
Calandra, did not pull any punches about the need for the new authority, saying it “would build on our previous actions to improve governance, enforce compliance and focus school boards on what matters most – student success. We are making it clear that school boards must put students first – not politics, not bureaucracy – and that we will act decisively when they fall short of that responsibility…there have been far too many examples of school boards veering away from this mission.”
Parents are no doubt cheering the moves.
Also in the bill’s cross hairs is the issue of naming or renaming schools. Several boards have generated considerable local controversy, not to mention spent money they don’t have on removing the name of Canadian historical figures like Sir John A. Macdonald, our first Prime Minister, from a school. The legislation proposes to give that authority to the Minister now.
Another issue generating controversy has been the School Resource Officer (SRO) program where local police officers are placed in schools to try and build better community relations. Several boards had cancelled the program due to concerns from some minority communities while others found the program to be a popular way to enhance student safety.
In requiring all boards to adopt the program if it was available from local police, the minister said, “I think it builds not only safety and security in a school, but also mutual respect.”
As the autonomy of school boards and their elected trustees is steadily whittled away by successive governments, it does raise the question of why have boards at all. The province sets curriculum and learning standards, determines how much money school boards get and where it should be spent, and negotiates teacher compensation.
From time to time, past governments have considered removing boards entirely. But that raises questions of what body would be responsible for school building, maintenance, transportation of students, organizing classes and schedules, hiring teachers, etc.
More importantly, given the constitutional guarantees for governance rights and equitable funding for the Catholic, French and French Catholic school systems, trying to remove school boards would create a messy political battle with no guarantee of a better outcome.
The minister appeared to leave the door slightly ajar by saying “everything is on the table” regarding school board governance but then he immediately stressed he would not be “abolishing a Catholic board” for example or considering the establishment of independent charter schools.
So it looks like boards are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Hopefully the new legislation will help ensure that they focus on what they are supposed to do, educating our children.
Janet Ecker is a former Ontario Finance Minister, Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Social Services and Government House Leader in the governments of Premier Mike Harris and Premier Ernie Eves. After her political career, she served as the founding CEO of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to building Toronto region into an international financial centre. She currently sits on a number of corporate and non-profit boards, agencies and advisory committees.
Ms. Ecker received the Order of Canada for her public service contributions and was recognized as one of the “Most Influential People in the World’s Financial Centres” by Financial Centres International. She also received a “Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award” from the Women’s Executive Network and the Richard Ivey School of Business, among other awards. She is also one of the founders of Equal Voice, a national, multi-partisan organization working to elect more women.
