Minister Calandra’s Plan to Reduce the Role of Local School Board Trustees Silences Parents
“Catholic teachers are deeply concerned by Minister of Education Paul Calandra’s anti-democratic plan to centralize control at Queen’s Park, reduce the role of locally elected school board trustees, and disrupt the collective bargaining process. If implemented, the government’s proposed legislation would remove critical education experience and local voices from the bargaining table.
Our parents, teachers, education workers, and local communities are instrumental to the success of our publicly funded education system. Their voices are critical and cannot be ignored as we work to ensure our schools are equipped to best support students.
While the Minister has heard some of our concerns, we are deeply disappointed that the government has chosen to ignore the fundamental issues and challenges facing our schools, including growing class sizes, increased class complexity, rising violence, and a lack of resources and supports.
Despite the Minister’s claims, this legislation is not about supporting students or strengthening education. It is about concentrating power and silencing parents and the local communities that know our schools best, while distracting from $6.3 billion in chronic government underfunding of education.
School board trustees are elected and can be held accountable by their local communities. The Minister has made clear that the government’s new Chief Executive Officer position will be accountable to Queen’s Park alone – and not to local parents.
This silences our families and local communities, the very people who keep our schools strong. At the bargaining table, by replacing trustees with CEOs, the government is removing critical education experience and expertise, as well as local voices, limiting the ability of parents to advocate for the resources students deserve.
Families and teachers have already seen the negative impact of government-appointed supervisors on our schools, many of whom were selected for their business experience and have zero education expertise. Their impact on student learning has been devastating, making deep cuts to critical special education supports, literacy programs, and classroom teaching positions. Expanding that model across Ontario by handing greater control to business-focused CEOs would further corporatize publicly funded education and put student learning at risk. We only need to look south of the border to see that this has not been a successful model.
The possible loss of trustee organizations would also further weaken advocacy for students and families. These organizations play an important role in supporting trustees through professional development, shared expertise, and guidance that strengthens local governance.
If the government was truly focused on student achievement, as it claims, it would be looking to strengthen the success story of our world-class publicly funded education system, not weaken it. The government’s plan is yet another distraction – an attempt to obscure eight years of chronic underfunding, which has taken its toll on schools across the province. Our students do not need more centralized control in the backrooms at Queen’s Park. They need smaller class sizes, more one-on-one time with their teachers, and sustained, meaningful investment in our schools.
As Catholic teachers, we teach lessons for life and imbue our classrooms with a values-based approach, working closely with our Catholic education communities to do so. We are proud to see our students consistently becoming active and engaged members of society in Ontario and beyond. By curtailing the role of locally elected trustees, Minister Calandra is actively threatening the success of publicly funded Catholic education.
We call on the government to withdraw its proposed legislation and work meaningfully and collaboratively toward a better future for Ontario students. One that starts by listening to parents, teachers, and local communities, to focus on the investments that students need to learn, grow, and thrive.”
René Jansen in de Wal
President, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association