Complete the Peel District School Board Survey

Let them know they are on the wrong track

By Igor Stravinsky (Teacher; commentator)

The PDSB wants your input. They are formulating their "multi year strategic plan":

The Board of Trustees for Peel District School Board (PDSB) is embarking upon the development of a multi-year strategic plan, and we need your valued input as part of this process. The aim of this survey is to gather feedback from the PDSB community to better understand parents’ and caregivers’ expectations of PDSB, how well PDSB is meeting their needs and what the school board can do to improve, all while giving families the opportunity to raise any concerns. Your perspective is invaluable to us, as we want to ensure that our strategic plan reflects the diverse voices and insights of our community. We hope that you will encourage others to participate in this survey as well.

This is your chance to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that their identity-obsessed, Critical Theory-based approach has been a disaster and unless they pull back and return to a pro-human pathway for learning, based in compassionate opposition to intolerance or racism rooted in dignity and our common humanity, which is focused on individual rights and responsibilities, things will get much, much worse.

The survey can be found here. As far as I can see, it can be completed as many times as you want.

Here is an overview of the survey along with my comments and suggestions:

Q1: Your postal code. There is a pretty good chance that if you use a postal code from outside Peel Region, your responses will be ignored.

Q2: My guess is that your responses will carry more or less weight depending on the category you choose here. Mostly likely "future parent, family member, or caregiver" will be taken most seriously.

Q3: Rating this as "extremely important" will hopefully discourage them from their current practice of valuing "lived experiences" and "identities" over any objective ability to read, write, speak, and understand English.

Q4: Since they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q5: Note that you can only enter one response, and it is limited to 200 characters! I suggest any of the following:

"institute a system of standardized diagnostic testing at every grade level along with a comprehensive program to catch up any student who falls behind".

"focus on phonics and the memorization of lists of common, non-phonetic words starting in the early grades"

"provide one-on-one tutoring for kids who have reading-related learning disabilities such as dyslexia, word decoding problems, etc."

"require that students/parents keep a log of the books they are reading at home- minimum 30 minutes per night, and if they are not doing that, put them in an after-school reading program".

"place grade 9 students with below standard literacy ability in a remedial literacy course prior to having them take grade 9 English". 

-or anything else that ensure that kids do not fall behind in reading and writing.

Q6: I can't imagine why, given the huge number of kids in the system that are way below the provincial standard, you would select anything but "extremely important". 

Q7: Once again, since they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q8: Once again you are limited to one response and the 200 character limit. I suggest any of the following, or something similar:

"teach students that mathematics is a universal language we all share which describes the world in which we live in objective terms"

"institute a system of standardized diagnostic testing at every grade level along with a comprehensive program to catch up any student who falls behind".

"emphasize concrete learning of arithmetic in the early grades using physical objects"

"do not introduce world problems or calculators until young learners have demonstrated proficiency with arithmetic and know their times tables up to 12s"

"flash cards and other rote learning techniques should be used in teaching basic arithmetic"

Q9: Again, I can't imagine why you would select anything but "extremely important". I once had a senior PDSB administrator tell me, with a straight face, that "it is not our job" to prepare kids for university”.

Q10: Once again, since they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q11: Once again you are limited to one response and the 200 character limit. I suggest any of the following, or something similar:

"resolve that your goal, as a school board, shall be to provide the opportunity for all students, especially the best and brightest, to strive for excellence"

Q12 Again, I can't imagine why you would select anything but "extremely important".

Q13 : Once again, since they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q14: Same issues as previously. I suggest

"Ban the use of mobile phones immediately. Provide devices for research that cannot be connected to social media or other inappropriate sites, but limit their use as much as possible", or 

"place students who are frequently or always off task in another learning environment, such as a study hall". When they see there are consequences for choosing not to work, but rather just socialize or go on social media, 90% of the kids will get on board right away. The other 10% were not learning anything anyway and will be better off working alone in a quiet study area.

Q15: I suggest "somewhat important". My reason is that these days, kids have become fragile little flowers. It is not their fault- they have been told that is what they are over and over and poor behavior and lack of effort has been rewarded with hugs and treats. Life is full of stress and disappointments. We need to give kids the tools to deal with these things, not try to shield them from them. That said, we do need to be sure that truly mentally ill kids get the help they need. 

Q16: As before, they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q17: Once again you are limited to one response and the 200 character limit. I suggest any of the following, or something similar:

"Ensure learning is age-appropriate. Teaching young kids details about topics such as sexuality and gender identity is very confusing for them. Answer any questions that may arise honestly".

Q18: Again, I can't imagine why you would select anything but "extremely important".

Q19: As before, they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q20: Once again you are limited to one response and the 200 character limit. I suggest any of the following, or something similar:

"Schools are not safe. Bring back discipline. No one should have to worry about their physical safety or security. Violent kids have the right to an education but not to attend a regular school".

Q21: Again, I can't imagine why you would select anything but "extremely important".

Q22: As before, they do not offer the option "completely dissatisfied", go for "not satisfied".

Q23: Once again you are limited to one response and the 200 character limit. I suggest any of the following, or something similar:

"Welcome all voices, especially those which so not support the narratives the board is promoting. You cannot be right about everything- no one ever was. Why would you be any different?".

Q24: I suggest trying your best to come up with something positive. There are, in fact, a lot of positive things happening, in spite of the utter incompetence and ideological zealotry of the board. One possibility would be "Most teachers are doing the best they can to help and support students in spite of the toxic environment the board has created due to its obsession with identity politics and a culture of privilege Vs. oppression. Teachers mostly understand that we are one human race and each of us has rights and responsibilities and that compassionate opposition to racism and intolerance based on our common humanity is the way forward.

Q25: I suggest something like this:

"School should be a place where each student, regardless of their inherent abilities, can strive for excellence. You have made it a bastion of mediocrity where identity based group outcomes are of paramount importance. This is absolutely shameful as our future success as a society depends on Canada continuing to be a world leader in technology and the defense of individual civil rights and liberties. Other nations are focusing on opportunities for students based on their innate abilities, work ethic, and overall merit. These countries will one day surpass us if we continue along the road we're on".

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read Chaotic Rollout of “De-streamed” High School Courses Continues

Also, for more evidence of the ideological indoctrination in Canadian education, read Yes, schools are indoctrinating kids! And also, What age should kids learn about "felching?"

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