February 17, 2020
Announcement: Principal Choicelessness
To:
8 online petitioners; 9 email respondents; 6 mail canvassers; 159 reporters and commentators; 26 trustee candidates and trustees; 26 of the many voters who are very concerned about our "one-size-fits-all" school boards; and 198 generally interested folks including members of the Social Mavrik Federation.
From:
Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation
Disclaimer:
If you want your email address removed from my list, please reply to this email with "No more" in the subject line.
This copy of my announcement
is sent to the email inbox of:
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CAMPBELL RIVER:
Bob Bray is pleased to promote a recently published article about "school principals being the invisible men and women in the power struggle between the Ontario government and the province's teaching unions..."
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The article was published in the National Post on February 12 (day 23 of strike action) under the headline, "Randall Denley: Ontario school principals have become an 'afterthought' and the bargaining sessions will only make it worse." I present a key excerpt below. The complete article can be seen
here.
The author, Randall Denley, provides a quote from a recently retired principal:
"The role of the principal is an afterthought in this province. It was eroded with each new bargaining session. I fear that once this strike is settled, principals will once again be provided with a new and more limiting job description. No wonder there is a shortage in leadership."
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I put the encumbrances to a principal's discretion as detailed by the author into an info-graphic which is displayed at the bottom of this message, in the Facebook section.
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The Alberta government is seeking input as it develops a 2-page vision document guiding K-12 education in Alberta.
You may be interested to know that the Alberta's government's commitment is to end the focus on "discovery" or "inquiry" learning and instead focus on providing students with a strong foundation of skills and knowledge.
An intriguing 4-page guide about responding to the survey is provided by
Parents for Choice in Education and can be seen
here.
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Public Independent Charter Schools - a petition
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This online petition includes a history of charter schools in Canada and was viewed
52 times during Strike Days 21 to 25;
89 times during Strike Days 16 to 20;
93 times during Strike Days 11 to 15;
110 times during Strike Days 6 to 10; and
93 times in the week of Strike Day 5. It can be inspected by clicking on the blue button or the underlined link below.
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New petitioners are shown in red lettering (None this past week)
So far 30 citizens in Ontario and British Columbia have added their name and address to this petition to call on the Ontario Government to allow charter schools in Ontario.
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Petitioners'
Province
---------------------
Ontario
---------------------
British
Columbia
---------------------
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A
ll
ow Ministry
To Approve
Up To 20 Public
Charter Schools
-------------------------
SUPPORT = 21
------------------------
SUPPORT = 9
-------------------------
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Petitioner Demographics
Name of City or Town
--------------------------------------------------
Bowmanville = 1
Cochrane = 1
London = 1
Malahide = 1
Mississauga = 1
North York = 1
Oshawa = 1
Ottawa = 1
Sarnia = 1
St. Catherines = 1
Thorold = 1
Toronto = 8
Union = 1
Welland = 1
--------------------------------------------------
Campbell River = 1
Chilliwack
= 2
Courtenay = 1
North Saanich = 1
North Vancouver = 1
Vancouver = 1
Victoria = 2
--------------------------------------------------
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Public Independent Charter Schools - a survey
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The email questionnaire can be inspected by clicking on the blue button or the underlined link below.
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New respondents are shown in red lettering (None this past week)
So far 9 citizens in British Columbia have emailed their position on independent publicly funded K-12 charter schools and the results are shown below.
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Respondents'
Province
---------------------
British
Columbia
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Allow Ministry
To Approve
Up To 20 Public
Charter Schools
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SUPPORT = 9
OPPOSE = 0
-------------------------
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Respondent Demographics
Average Age
Number of Children
Number of Grandchildren
Number of Great Grandchildren
--------------------------------------------------
Avg Age=69
C=23
GC=53
GGC=4
Avg Age=0
C=0
GC=0
GGC=0
--------------------------------------------------
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An easier-to-read summary of survey results can be seen
here.
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School Board Schools = Education Instability
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Updates are shown in red lettering
School Board High Schools (31 Secular Boards)
- work to rule began on Tuesday, December 3
- Strike Day 1 - Wednesday, December 4
- Strike Day 2 - Wednesday, December 10, against 9 School Boards
- Strike Day 3 - Wednesday, December 17, against 10 School Boards
- Strike Day 4 - Wednesday, January 8, against 8 School Boards
- Strike Day 5 - Wednesday, January 15, against 16 School Boards
- Strike Day 7 - Tuesday, January 21, against 13 School Boards
- Strike Day 17 - Tuesday, February 4, against 10 School Boards
- Strike Day 24 - Thursday, February 13, against 9 School Boards
- Strike Day 26 - Friday, February 21, planned province-wide
- are compensation, class size, two required e-learning courses and hiring new teachers based on seniority
- Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation OSSTF
- 60,000 teachers and education workers
- 1,350 High School teachers are opposed to strike action
School Board Elementary School
s (31 Secular Boards)
- phase 1 job action began on Tuesday, November 26
- not completing Term 1 report cards
- not participating in board or ministry courses outside of school hours
- phase 2 job action began on Tuesday, December 10
- not planning any new field trips
- not collecting money for school activities, except charitable causes
- phase 3 job action began on Monday, January 13
- work to rule, no before or after school presence
- Strike Day 6 - Monday, January 20 against 3 Boards
- Strike Day 7 - Tuesday, January 21 against 4 Boards
- Strike Day 8 - Wednesday, January 22 against 3 Boards
- Strike Day 9 - Thursday, January 23 against 4 Boards
- Strike Day 10 - Friday, January 24 against 2 Boards
- Strike Day 11 - Monday, January 27 against 3 Boards
- Strike Day 12 - Tuesday, January 28 against 5 Boards
- Strike Day 13 - Wednesday, January 29 against 4 Boards
- mediator called both sides to the table for talks
- Strike Day 14 - Thursday, January 30, against 3 Boards
- talks with mediator continued for a second day
- Strike Day 15 - Friday, January 31, against 2 Boards
- talks with mediator ended with no new bargaining dates
- Strike Day 16 - Monday, February 3, against 3 Boards
- Strike Day 17 - Tuesday, February 4, against 8 Boards plus 1 Authority
- Strike Day 18 - Wednesday, February 5, against 9 Boards plus 1 Centre
- Strike Day 19 - Thursday, February 6, province-wide
- Strike Day 20 - Friday, February 7, against 8 Boards plus 6 Authorities
- Strike Day 21 - Monday, February 10 against 10 Boards and 1 Authority
- Strike Day 22 - Tuesday, February 11, province-wide
- Strike Day 23 - Wednesday, February 12 against 7 Boards, 6 Authorities
- Strike Day 24 - Thursday, February 13, against 14 Boards and 1 Centre
- Strike Day 25 - Friday, February 14 against 3 Boards
- Strike Day 26 - Friday, February 21, planned province-wide
- issues are special needs students, one early childhood educator in every kindergarten classroom, classroom-based violence, compensation and hiring new teachers based on seniority
- Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario ETFO
- 83,000 teachers and education workers
- 830 Elementary School teachers are opposed to strike action
School Board French Schools (4 Secular and 8 Catholic Boards)
- 450 French language schools
- Franco-Ontarian teachers vote 97 per cent in favour of striking if necessary
- phase 1 job action began on Thursday, January 16
- refusing administrative duties
- phase 2 work-to-rule planned to begin on Tuesday, January 28
- January 29 - talks held with government
- January 30 - talks held with government
- February 3 to 7 - two days of talks with government were scheduled
- talks "went nowhere" Remi Sabourin, AEFO President
- Strike Day 24 - Thursday, February 13, province-wide
- Strike Day 26 - Friday, February 21, planned province-wide
- Association des enseigantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens
- 10,500 members AEFO
- 315 Franco-Ontarian teachers are opposed to strike action
School Board English Schools (29 Catholic Boards)
- strike notice has been issued and teachers are in a legal strike position
- contract talks were held on January 9th
- mediator adjourned talks on January 10th
- job action began on Monday, January 13th
- teachers refuse to complete report cards
- teachers refuse to participate in EQAO standardised tests
- Strike Day 7 - Tuesday, January 21 against all 29 Catholic School Boards
- talks concluded on Monday, February 3, with no deal reached
- Strike Day 17 - Tuesday, February 4, against all 29 Catholic Boards
- Strike Day 26 - Friday, February 21, planned province-wide
- issues include class size, maintaining full day kindergarten. No mention in press releases of any problems with compensation.
- Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association OECTA
- 45,000 teachers
- 1,305 English Catholic teachers are opposed to strike action
Ministry of Education Vouchers
- Strike Day 5, Jan 15, vouchers announced today, 12,000 applications received
- Strike Day 6, Jan 20; 130,000 applications received
- Strike Day 14, Jan 30; 248,000 applications received: 17% of eligible parents
- Feb 6 - Government is no longer releasing number of applications received
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On the other hand, when this email message is forwarded through the "forward" button in your email program it remains linked to your email address. This makes it possible for the eventual recipient to use the unsubscribe feature, but it is your email address that is unsubscribed from my distribution list.
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Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation
Phone: 250-900-2422
Mail: 422-1434 Ironwood Street, Campbell River, British Columbia V9W 5T5
Email: bob.bray@socialmavrikbc.ca
Website: socialmavrikbc.ca
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The Social Mavrik Federation is a registered society in British Columbia dedicated to cultural politics through endorsing MP / MLA / Trustee candidates and supporting thoughtful petitions, as directed by its members.
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I have posted the image below on my Facebook page. I invite you to visit it at
facebook.com/bob.bray.334 and, if you do, you are welcome to give it a like, and/or a share and/or a comment.
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Click
here to see a larger version of the above image.
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A recent tweet and image
:
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Click
here to see a larger version of the above image.
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As of February 16th this tweet had been seen 390 times with 16 engagements.
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Topics covered in previous Announcements:
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