What are the Ontario Education Ministry's intentions?

Bill 98 - The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act

By

James Pew

“The Government is committed to re-focusing Ontario’s education system on student achievement, prioritizing hands-on learning and skills development in reading, writing and math. Legislative changes are needed to advance a vision for Ontario’s kindergarten to grade 12 education system that is centered on preparing students to succeed in life and work and on putting highly qualified educators in the classroom while strengthening the voices of parents.” - Stephen Lecce, Ontario Minister of Education

Read The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act here.

On Sunday, Ontario Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, announced that more than $71 million will be invested in 300 teachers for new specialty math programs - consisting of one math lead per school board, and  a doubling of the current roster of math coaches. Lecce also committed $109 million for an additional 700 teachers for reading intervention programs to support literacy development, and for the implementation of screening for early readers (students from senior kindergarten to Grade 2).

All of this is part of Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes act, which among other things, promises greater transparency so that parents can be better informed regarding their children's education.

On Monday, Lecce Tweeted the following:

“We are raising the bar.

Putting parents back in the driver seat.

The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act will refocus Ontario schools on what matters most: boosting reading, writing & math skills.

It is about time we got #BackToBasics.”

Reaction to Bill 98 has been mixed. The two major unions - Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) for public elementary teachers, and Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) for public high school teachers - both have expressed disapproval with the Ontario government's process so far.

The ETFO which describes itself as a “social justice and equity seeking organization,” said the following regarding Bill 98:

“Instead of working in partnership to improve our world-renowned education system, the Ford government is focused on creating a crisis in public education where none exists.” 

The statement above, in my view, is tone deaf. It does not recognize the growing constituency of Canadian parents who are unhappy with the quality of education their children are receiving, and outraged at the inclusion of quasi-scientific political ideology/advocacy used to indoctrinate kids into the Social Justice world view.

The OSSTF tweeted the following:

“What's really going on with the #OntEd legislation announced by the MoEd yesterday? Why on earth did they not consult with ed unions like #OSSTF & other key stakeholders - including the public?”

And then,

“Yesterday's legislation unfairly targets different #OntEd stakeholders, blaming them 4 problems that mostly stem from years of purposeful underfunding by the gov.”

David Haskell seems to agree with me in thinking that asking “what is really going on” and implying that the government is pretending a crisis exists, is disingenuous at best. The following is from an op-ed David wrote for the National Post:

“While the government doesn’t say and the unions pretend not to know, a growing number of concerned parents could express with precision why ‘an overhaul is necessary’ and what they want the public school system to ‘be leaving out’.”

The above take could not be more spot on. Parents know exactly what it is that the unions pretend not to know, and the government won’t say. 

David goes on to list a number of recent examples where parents have expressed concerns over wokeism in various schools across the country. The Halton District School Board with their shop teaching Z-Cup Bandit was one given. But other examples of the moral degeneracy, anti-science quackery, and racist “anti-racism” being promoted in schools are too numerous to list. Readers of Woke Watch Canada will be familiar with many of the cases covered in these pages. Everything from a high school student excluded from school for holding the belief that boys don’t belong in girls washrooms, to parents writing letters, or giving rousing delegations to woke school boards, to trustees who dare challenge the woke assumptions of the boards they are part of, to parents concerned with age-inappropriate sexualized graphic novels included in school libraries.

David’s op-ed implies that perhaps there is a reason why the Ontario government is being so opaque in communicating the details of Bill 98. Parents who support the bill may project their own desires onto it, but is this bill actually meant to address the damage done by the disastrous Social Justice movement? Even without admitting that said movement was disastrous?  I tend to agree with David’s observation referring to the fallout that has occurred in the wake of Social Justice education policies:

“Of course, we can’t actually know if the Ontario government’s new act is meant to address any of these issues. The act neither mentions nor targets any of these troubling occurrences and, from a public relations perspective, we might see why.

If Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce were to say, explicitly, that their new legislation was intended to roll back the far-left madness now reeking havoc on children K through 12, the teachers unions and the woke activist mob that abets them would be rioting in the streets.”

Is Minister Lecce being crafty by framing his bill as supportive of a new academic focus, instead of opposing the current Social Justice focus? An argument can be made that in today’s political climate, it may not be possible to effectively push back against Social Justice activism any other way.

If that is the case, I have to hand it to Lecce and company for their strategic tactics. The following statement, reported by CityNews Toronto, from Lecce is a prime example of what I’m referring to:

“We can improve outcomes if we focus our time in the classroom on skills development, and we can help our young people succeed by getting better paying jobs and that’s what we’re doing. It’s what this bill exists to do.” 

How can anyone oppose this? It is obvious that this is what parents desire. But what is less obvious is how far Social Justice activism has entrenched into our educational institutions, and how intensely the activists loathe parents. Bill 98 specifically calls for school boards to be more accountable to parents - the activists know very well that their movement is under threat, so perhaps the government is wise to somewhat conceal this fact, and instead focus on the academic achievement that most Canadians have always wanted from our education system.

Responses to Bill 98 from Media and Twitter:

Twitter profile Blueprint for Canada tweeted the following questions concerning the bill:

“Will this bill prevent trustees from shutting down parental delegations raising concern about CRT, gender ideology, etc?   Will it prevent the weaponization of ‘codes of conduct’ against trustees who do the same?   Will it protect the right of trustees to speak freely?”

A Twitter profile named “BaconatorSandwhich,” whose bio states they are “a pragmatist and centrist” with “boots on the ground in education,” a “parent who has lost trust in the public system,” made the following comment:

“I would love to believe this, I really would, but remember, this government had total control of  @PeelSchools and absolutely buried it in woke, discriminatory practices that chased hundreds of experienced employees from the board and ruined education for its students.”

From Monday’s Toronto Star report:

“‘It’s about expecting better from the system,’ Lecce told the Star in an interview. ‘Boards need to refocus on what matters, which is student achievement’….Parents, he added, have been ‘very loud and clear on their priorities in the education system’.”

The activists, who think testing is racist, were definitely triggered by the following statement:

“In every stage of life, mastering mathematics and reading is critical...in this province, and frankly, around the entire industrialized world, too many children are falling behind and the (standardized testing) data confirms this. We have schools that have consistently underperformed in these fundamental skills.” - Stephen Lecce

Here is a Tweet from former teacher Carolyn Burjoski, who is currently suing the Waterloo Region District School Board:

“Changes are coming! 

The province is holding Directors of Education accountable for literacy & math improvements & intervening when Trustees are censured. 

Let's hope schools get back on track with foundations and the power tripping of bureaucrats ends.”

Here is a Tweet from Chanel Pfahl, regular Woke Watch Canada contributor, and former teacher put under investigation several times for wrong speak by the Ontario College of Teachers: 

“Great! The Ministry of Ed wants to focus on student achievement now. 

Looking forward to step 1, which I imagine is to fire all DEI staff, end all contracts with woke consultants, remove all ministry and board policies that compel teachers to endorse belief systems such as anti-racism and equity, and put an end to CRRP and SEL programs. Right @Sflecce? …right?”

And here is a response from Twitter user, Anthony Harris:

“They have to concurrently abolish the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the unchecked extra-judicial enforcers who uphold the requirement of group based equity in provincial workplaces. Otherwise, this could just reoccur.”

Jon Kay’s tweet made me lol:

“this is great news. It's been obvious for years that @HaltonDSB @wrdsb @OCDSB @tdsb & @PeelSchools all require adult supervision.”

Earlier this week anonymous Canadian high school teacher, and regular Woke Watch Canada contributor who goes by the pseudonym, Igor Stravinsky, published his analysis of Bill 98 in these pages. The Peel District School Board had previously been taken over by the Ontario government, this controversy was brought up by reporters during the press conference for Bill 98. The explanation Lecce offered was extremely dishonest, and raises questions as to what the true motivation for Bill 98 might be. From Igor’s perspective:

“Lecce’s reported comment that the MOE takeover at the PDSB was the result of  trustees who ‘were more interested in personal beefs than putting kids first’ is completely disingenuous to say the least. He knows very well that community activists disrupted the board to the point where it became dysfunctional. Some of the senior administration at the time pushed back against the activists' demands to entrench Critical Theory as the operating principle of the board, while others, the opportunists,  supported it and have been richly rewarded.”

The debacle mentioned above was covered in my two part piece The Peel District School Board and White Supremacy (Part 1 of 2)  

Lastly, the confusion and ambiguity around Bill 98 only reinforces the importance of parents getting active in school councils and in all the processes available to enhance and fight for involvement in their children’s education. The Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms is hosting a Zoom event on April 25th called, Navigating Public School Board Participation in Ontario. Tickets are $10, and as stated on the JCCF website - “This conversation will empower you to understand school boards, your rights, and how to make a positive impact on Canadian public education.”

I’ll leave it at that for today. There will be more commentary in the coming days and weeks concerning the implications of Ontario’s Bill 98. Stay tuned.

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read Canadian schools are indoctrination factories

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