Thames Valley, Ontario (Signal High) —– Ontario Premier Doug Ford is considering getting rid of school board trustees, according to a recent speech. Citing malfeasance, administrative insufficiencies, and leftist political leanings, Ford says the province is seeking more involvement in the province’s schools.
Recently introduced legislation (Bill 33) would give Ontario’s education minister more power over the boards. One of the measures already being formulated is forcing the schools to allow police to enter and speak to students as part of criminal investigations. Another is in the bargaining process with teachers’ unions.
In Canada, only elected officials can impose taxes and only elected officials can impose law. School boards used to have this authority, leveraging on the mill rate of property taxes within their catchment. But this power was taken away by the province over a decade ago, and they are still being elected. So many have been asking why this costly bureaucracy still exists. Some proponents of Ford’s initiative claim that school trustees do little more than shield executives from the political fallout of poor policy decisions. They distract the public from the gaffs and inadequacies of school superintendents.
One staffer who works in the offices of Paul Calandra, Ontario’s education minister, remarked off-the-record that serious change is on the way for school boards in the province, and that ‘executive educators’ are going to find themselves looking for ‘real work’. There are seventy-two school boards in the province.
This writer would like to open debate on this issue. Do elected school boards really matter anymore? Are schools in Toronto really any different than schools is Sudbury? Are elected trustees simply a throwback or the last remaining scrap of a leftist agenda? Should other public institutions be forced to elect trustees? Tell me what you think, reach out to britt.hegmann@signalhigh.news.
Signal High will continue to monitor this story.
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