What in heavens name is going on at the pre-school level in England? Why the rush to literacy at the expense of normal development? Why is it now politically correct to take away childhood? What on earth is happening to the Brown led Labour government? Have they lost their sense of purpose and a compass on reality?

What brings up my rhetorical questions is this TimesOnLine piece by Nicola Woolcock about ”authors uniting against toddler literacy“ posted at Jack’s Newswatch today. While you can also follow links from the original article to other sources, here are some of the points being made in the Woolcock column that should cause us all concern:

• Children as young as 4 are expected to write in sentences and use punctuation under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework – widely described as a “toddlers’ curriculum”.
• This sets 69 goals and more than 500 development milestones that children in England should reach by the age of 5.
• They are supposed to use mathematics to solve practical problems, retell stories in the correct sequence, understand right from wrong, read simple sentences on their own, sit quietly, be able to use a computer and understand that other people have different views, cultures and beliefs that need to be respected.

Reality check please! We have spent between fifty and sixty years figuring out the developmental stages of children and adults. Piaget found that children did not start to think abstractly until they were between age 10 and 14, usually around the age of 11. And, when I was in private practice, I did psycho-educational testing. These milestones are totally unrealistic and don’t relate to all the research that has been done.

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You’ve got to hand it to Ontario MPP Michael Prue. As Moira MacDonald of the Toronto Sun writes in her column today, Prue (who is getting ready to replace Howard Hampton as leader) is openly suggesting that Ontario have just one publicly funded school system. As MacDonald wrote:

“Instead of the news being that Prue was the first to throw his hat into the leadership ring, what rang out was Prue had suggested it might be time for a rethink on his party’s support for two school systems — Catholic and public.”

Frankly, as a supporter of the faith-based funding proposal brought forward in last October’s Ontario election by conservative leader John Tory, I am very surprised this topic is being brought up. Credit where credit is due for Prue having the guts to speak his mind. 

But, what exactly would one system look like and how would it be about equality? For example, MacDonald quotes Nelson Wiseman, a U of T political science professor, as saying: ”I suspect the majority sentiment in the party is to move toward equality, not on the basis of being anti-Catholic, but on the basis of not favouring any one religion.”

How is not favouring any one religion about equality? That notion is actually about inequality because it would force conformity on everyone — into the same melting pot.  How would that type of system be inclusive? Or, would it only be inclusive in certain “politically correct” instances?  

Would there be, for example, schools where Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Baptist kids could go to school? Would there be schools where Aboriginal students could study, or where there was an Africentric emphasis? Would there be schools where kids would be able to study visual art, dance and drama?

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Parents, are your children getting the best education possible? Whether yes or no, this is your chance to tell it like it is. CBC says they will be conducting an in-depth survey about attitudes to education across Canada.

If you have a positive story, tell it. But, if you have a horror story or a story about frustration and endless wrangling with your child’s school or school board, tell that story as well. Here is what the CBC says it wants to know to compile their school report:

“Got an issue or story that you think we should know about? Tell us. We’re surveying parents and educators to bring you an in-depth look at education across the country.The results will be compiled and investigated for our education series, to be featured on CBC radio, television and our web site this fall. Send your story below. Then, fill out our 10-minute education survey.”

Above all, let’s not sugar coat this report. Tell it like it is. Perhaps some good will come out of it. Perhaps we will find out the differences between programs and services in each province and territory. Perhaps we will find out how effective or ineffective the publicly funded schools are compared to independent schools. And, last but not least, perhaps we will find out how effective school choice is in those provinces that allow public funding to pay for charter schools or provide vouchers to independent schools.

Or, will this survey be biased one way or the other? For example, why is a parent’s education level relevant? Remember, this is self-report research. It will already be biased in that only certain people will find the survey and only certain people will respond. While there is nothing wrong with self-report, why is a parent’s education level relevant in this case? 

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In Toronto and the GTA, and no doubt clear across Canada, school board trustees have, like all public sector personnel, acquired an attitude of entitlement regarding the use of taxpayers money.  What is especially discouraging is the fact trustees are elected in the public interest. In other words, they are supposed to be in a position of public “trust.” Yet, if actions speak louder than words, the only interest they have once elected are their own salaries and perks.

Read Don Peat’s Toronto Sun column today about the Toronto Catholic School Board’s inappropriate spending habits. Remember, this is the crowd who took home, on average, $107,000. As Peat states:

“They spent themselves right through warnings and into supervision. Documents obtained by the Toronto Sun show taxpayers shelled out for embattled Toronto Catholic trustees to stay at a Beverley Hills hotel, buy iPods, pick up $1000 in gift cards, donate to a Mississauga symphony concert, get a master’s degree and shovel cash to schools in their wards.”

What amazes me is that even after Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynn assigned a supervisor to run the board, the trustees kept right on spending. So, we either have to start holding their feet to the fire and vote for new trustees at the first opportunity.

Or, it is time to abolish school board trustees altogether.

H/T Cathy Cove.

On June 30th, 2008, I wrote that Ontario parents who had elementary aged children in the public system should prepare for a fall strike. Well, I am not so sure anymore. That said, it is always good to have alternative child care plans lined up — just in case — because as it states on the Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE) website:

On August 31, 2008, most of the 475 collective agreements in Ontario’s publicly funded schools will expire. In January 2008, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne initiated informal discussions with trustee associations, teacher federations and unions to explore new four-year collective agreements before their current agreements expire….[However], the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has left the provincial discussion table.

So, ETFO left the bargaining table some time ago and has not yet returned. Here is the link to the ETFO site explaining one of the main bargaining issues — closing the gap between the per-pupil grants for secondary students versus elementary students. As I wrote in my previous post (and linked above), as long as I can remember secondary student grants were always higher because it was claimed that it was more expensive to educate the older students — given the cost of textbooks and other resources at that level.

If, however, the Ontario government gives in to ETFO on the “gap” issue to avoid a strike, parents and all taxpayers need to know that decision could cost Ontario taxpayers up to $1 billion dollars more. Now, if that actually translated into more resources for children, most of us would not object. However, my guess is, it will only translate into higher salaries and benefits for ETFO members.

Remember, Dalton McGuinty has said he is the “Education Premier.” As such, just how long, I wonder, will the Ontario government and the elementary teachers union stay at odds? My guess? To keep the peace and to keep the teachers’ unions happy, Education Minister Kathleen Wynn will end up settling this dispute at the eleventh hour — claiming a victory for the government.

If I am wrong, however, because the government is getting squeezed by teacher union demands, this government will be no different than any other since the late 1960’s.

I will keep readers up to date as new information becomes available.

[...]

H/T regular reader Ann. See her comment from another thread here.

On Sunday mornings, one of the first things I do is read John Snobelen’s column in the Toronto Sun. His topics are usually current and right on target. Today is no exception as he gives a knock out punch to Ontario’s teachers’ unions.

Think back to the period 1995 to 1999. How did the public sector unions, including the teachers’ unions act? On the day the Harris government was sworn in sometime in late June, 1995, I was at Queen’s Park to observe the ceremony. Before, during and after, there was a line of protesters marching around the legislative building screaming, “shame, shame on Mike Harris.”  Remember, that was even before the Harris government had done anything!

Fast forward to 2008. Negotiations have apparently broken off between the government and ETFO, the elementary teachers’ assocation, which wants parity with secondary school per pupil grants plus a lot of other things. And, we find out that the government could be in a conflict of interest with the teachers’ unions due to campaign donations during both the 2003 and 2007 provincial elections.

Yet, there are no protests in Toronto or elsewhere in Ontario. In fact, since the McGuinty government was first elected in the fall of 2003, apart from the CUPE disagreement over the role of education assistants which tellingly was settled just before the start of the 2007 election campaign, what protests have there been?

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Christina Blizzard has an excellent column today about whether or not there might be a conflict of interest between the teachers’ unions and campaign donations in the 2007 Ontario election. If, as she suggests, you follow the money, it doesn’t look good. For example, a number of Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) offices contributed to Education Minister Kathleen Wynn’s campaign, as did the Ontario Teachers Federation (OTF).

And, remember, these are the same groups that screamed their way through the Mike Harris years with “Days of Protest” and a two week teacher strike in 1997. So, what does it say to the public when none of that is happening now and hasn’t since the McGuinty government was first elected in 2003? Is it good management and good leadership as the Ontario Liberals would have us believe or is it simply giving the teachers’ unions everything they want? 

Meaning, that there will likely be a lot sabre rattling regarding the current ETFO negotiations, followed by Wynn “settling” and claiming victory. However, let’s not forget what that “victory” is going to cost Ontario taxpayers. Remember, ETFO wants nearly one billion dollars more so that elementary per-pupil grants equals that of secondary students.

But, it doesn’t end there. Scroll down this Ministry of Education (MOE) page. Fourth quarter investment money allocations were $250,000 to OTF and $900,000 to ETFO.

Now, can anyone make a direct link between election donations, contract settlements, grant allocations and peace in our schools? In other words, is there an unofficial “quid pro quo” arrangement? I very much doubt it. However, it should be something PC opposition leader John Tory looks into.

In the meantime, if perception is reality, there is clearly enough of a conflict of interest in this situation that it should somehow be avoided in the future — no matter which political party is involved!

[...]

H/T Doretta Wilson, Exec. Director of the Society for Quality Education & Joanne (Blue Like You). 

I received an e-mail from a regular reader yesterday who explained that her daughter had just graduated from high school and was about to start university in September – without the English grammar and spelling abilities one might expect — and wondered how she would survive university without those skills.

It was also explained to me that she, the mother, had asked her daughter’s high school teachers over the years about why her daughter wasn’t being taught distinct grammar and spelling.  In response she was always told they, high school teachers, didn’t have to do that. That whatever spelling and grammar she learned as a distinct subject would have been done, or at least should have been done, at the elementary level. Since that didn’t seem to have happened, the mother asked for my recommendations.

First of all, you can’t start from scratch. You can’t go back to the junior grades once your son or daughter is eighteen.  So, once your children graduate from high school with the required marks and credits to get accepted into a Canadian university, it is best to deal with where they are at right now.

As such, my first recommendation was that her daughter make sure she take part in her university’s orientation “essay” writing and related courses because some grammar and spelling would be included, if only in a contextual way.

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Without a doubt, for anyone who is interested in the education field, be it as a teacher, a student or a parent, teachingtips.com is an excellent resource to have at your finger tips. Literally. But, one post regular readers will not want to miss is this one which lists 50 must read blogs by educators.

And, I am very proud to announce, that Crux-of-the-Matter is listed as # 5 on this list under the “general” blog category and as a blog that “focuses on issues in the news about education, politics and disabilities in Canada and all over the world.”

The categories of the 50 best education blogs are: “general,” “subject specific,” “international,” “technology” and “tips and tools.” And, as Christina Laun writes in the preamble:

“Whether you’re new to the teaching field yourself or a seasoned veteran, you can find inspiration, advice and shared experiences by reading the blogs of other teachers. Both established bloggers and those new to the game like the bloggers listed here can offer some interesting and sometimes entertaining reading material for anyone involved in the education field.Check these new bloggers out the next time you’re looking for something educational to read.”

A great resource and I am pleased to be able to post on it.

Parents of elementary school aged children need to know that talks between the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the province have broken off.  And, the reason they have broken off involves a lot of taxpayers’ money.

Whether it is a justifiable fight or not depends on whose side you are on.  I wrote on this topic here and here. The reality is that per pupil grants to public and Catholic boards of education for elementary aged students has traditionally been lower than at the secondary level. In the past, the argument always was that books and other resources were more expensive at the high school level. But, while that might have been true in the past, with the advent of computers and other learning related technologies, I doubt very much that is still the case.

The other thing ETFO is campaigning on is how much less time secondary school teachers spend in the classroom and, therefore, how much more time elementary teachers spend — and they want parity. And, make no mistake about it, this is about more than time. This is about huge amounts of taxpayers dollars. Remember also, that it was Dalton McGuinty who said he was going to be the “Education Premier” and he brought peace to Ontario’s schools by getting a four year contract and giving the teachers’ unions pretty much what they asked for.

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