The Politics Of School Boards

Having worked as a teacher for 30 years, I am well-aware of the politics that pervades and blights education. The higher one goes up the ladder, the more one is concerned about damage control. Since I was a mere peon, i.e. a classroom teacher, I had little tolerance for such nonsense.

It was therefore with much disgust but little surprise that I read about the Toronto District School Board putting an embargo on principals when unpleasant things happen in their schools. Apparently, the drawing of swastikas in washrooms is something they like to deal with 'in house.'

Parents at a Toronto elementary school vandalized with swastikas were stunned to hear of the incident from their children and not administrators, saying they are “disappointed” by a board procedure that prohibits principals from sharing such information.

The Toronto District School Board says it takes allegations of hate and racism “very seriously” but has moved away from telling parents about these incidents because it’s concerned that students who may have been involved will be vilified and the reports will lead to copycat acts.

Hmm, consequences for the malefactors - what a horrifying prospect.

“As an educational institution, we have a duty to create a school community that is not only safe for students, but one in which they can learn from their mistakes.”

In an interview with the Star, school council co-chairs Rachel Cooper and Livy Jacobs say their children told them the principal made an announcement about washroom graffiti, urging those with information to come forward. It was through the rumour mill that students, and parents, learned two swastikas had been drawn in the washroom.

Cooper and Jacobs, both Jewish, met with the principal and told her that parents should have been informed. They were surprised to learn the board doesn’t notify the school community about incidents of hate, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Black racism.

“The principal’s hands are tied, and they’re not allowed to send a communication even if they feel that they should,” said Cooper....

The TDSB, it appears, is more concerned about transgressive students than their victims, and optics over openness, revealing in an email that informing parents of such incidents

“often led to the identification, surveillance, and stigmatization of the specific students who may have been involved — making it difficult for them to reintegrate with their peers.

But never fear, the board is 

developing a “distinct strategy” to combat antisemitism, which had been in the works before the war. It’s also addressing other kinds of hate, such as anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, anti-Indigenous racism, ableism and homophobia.

I have never been a fan of theatre of the absurd, but at least until now I have had the choice not to attend such performances. Give what is going on with the TDSB, that obviously no longer holds true. 

 

 

 

 

The Flight From Knowledge

 

There is never a moment in my post-teaching life when I have regretted retiring. The paperwork was bad enough, but in the latter part of my career, the politics were becoming very difficult for someone like me to tolerate. The careerists were always looking over their shoulders, ever fearful of obstacles on the horizon that might impede their constant upward trajectory. Even phone calls from dissatisfied parents affrighted them.

The real victims in all of this were basic educational principles and, most sadly, the students.

The following letters to the editor exemplify this fact:

York school board insults children’s intelligence in its censorship

Ontario schools cancel the Crown. How?, Sept. 17

The York Region District School Board issued guidance to teachers that discussion of the Queen’s death is “not encouraged” because it might be “triggering,” as “monarchies are steeped in problematic histories of colonialism,” and so on. Children are curious and resilient. With the help of adults, they may deal with events that are distressing: the divorce of their parents, the death of their grandparents.

Educators now have the opportunity to explain why millions mourn this woman, while others think of her as the symbol of historical colonialism and imperialism.

And yet the York board wants to silence educators on the subject.

The problem is not that the York board has a low opinion of the Queen.

It is that they have a low opinion of children.

David Mayerovitch, Ottawa

Last year, in the high school that I teach in, a teacher was temporarily removed from class for reading part of “To Kill a Mockingbird” aloud. The teacher had, of course, very carefully laid the groundwork for the book and prepared the students for its disturbing content. They had were well into reading the book. But that day, a student in the class had their phone on, recording, waiting, and after the passage was read, they asked to go to the washroom. Instead, they went right to the office.

There was a flurry of activity after the complaint, and, to make a long story short, the book has been pulled from the whole board, along with several others that the administration (or the board) deemed to be potentially sensitive.

So one student complained, and, instead of working it through, the books were taken from the hands of the rest of the students in the class, who never got to finish the story or the discussions of the issues inside it.

I wonder what exactly they learned from that experience.

Your article says “Basic civics — teaching students about the complications and contradictions in our constitutional system — can’t be taught if educators are told to duck controversy because of potential sensitivity.”

This is exactly what is happening in libraries and English classes all over the country.

We need to be able to talk about racism, and every other damaging “ism,” without the fear of being accused of being racist.

But the fear is real in the teaching profession, and I imagine everywhere else.

No one wants to be escorted out of the building and have their reputation tarnished or ruined.

These discussions are being silenced, and this is a great loss to our education system.

Kim Fraser, Holland Landing, Ont.