Notes

Protestors Oppose Muslim Prayer in Toronto Public Schools
July 30 2011

About 100 people showed up at the Toronto District School Board’s main office this past week to protest something taking place in many Toronto schools throughout the school year – accommodation for prayer. Protestors coming from such groups as Jewish Defence League (JDL), Canadian Hindu Advocacy and the Christian Heritage Party targeted Muslim prayer at Valley Park Middle School. Students there are allowed to pray on Friday afternoons with an Imam. The arrangement ensures that 300 Valley Park students do indeed return to class after Friday prayers.

Protesters waved signs with such tolerant remarks as “creeping jihad” and chanted “No Mohammed in Our Schools”. With irony not lost on anyone, the JDL website claims that Imams “have been allowed to practice gender apartheid” since girls are segregated from boys during prayer. This is the same group that tried to break up a recent talk by Palestinian activist Omar Bargouti as its members demanded the removal of Palestinians from the area.

Noting that accommodation is not “written in stone”, TDSB Director Chris Spence said that schools are obliged to make accommodations for religions
with thanks to Toronto Star

No Ads For Now
March 16, 2011

In a deft procedural move, trustees at the TDSB voted on March 9 not to “receive” a report recommending that a local firm provide monitors for local high schools in return for advertising rights. Had the Board actually “received” the report it would in effect, have given the go ahead without a vote for TDSB staff to make a major change in school culture by introducing advertising to a much greater degree than ever before. Yes, we have a bit of advertising on soft drink machines, on garbage receptacles rusting outside and indeed those of us of a certain age can remember maps of Canada brought to you by the Neilson Chocolate Company. But this would different, with about 30% of on-air time devoted marketing.

Staff and trustees in favour of a stronger corporate voice in schools, plan to return with a reworked proposal, so expect a round two on this issue. Read the original article

Wisconsin Okays Union Busting Bill
Thursday March 10, 2011
Wisconsin Republicans passed Governor Scott Walker’s bill to eliminate most collective bargaining rights for public employees, yesterday. Though all 14 Democratic state senators had left Wisconsin in protest to block the bill, it did not deter Senate Republicans who cut out any fiscal measures that would have required the Democrats to make up a quorum. This enabled them to pass the anti-union sections. Among the measures are ones that would prevent unions from collecting dues through payroll deductions or requiring members to pay dues.

Accountability On Steroids

by Gord Bambrick

QUESTION 1: Is the statement below true or false?
Despite pretensions of helping the kids, it is increasingly evident that the real goal of testing is to put a spotlight on the supposed underperformance of public education.

Teachers know that results on high-stakes testing are not a fair indicator of school success. Schools don’t teach just numeracy and literacy. And, by any estimate, these subject areas don’t represent more than a fraction of the curriculum.
Although no teacher would be foolish enough to claim that exams in two subject areas represent the sum of a child’s learning in all subjects over three years, this is what is sold to the public by both the government and the media. The government boasts about improved Education and Quality Accountability Office (EQAO) results; oversimplified headlines and sound bites do the rest.
Despite pretensions of helping the kids, it is increasingly evident that the real goal of testing is to put a spotlight on the supposed underperformance of public education. This is exactly how high-stakes testing gets used by dozens of pro-privatization think tanks, many of which, like Canada’s Fraser Institute, publish their school rankings in the media. These organizations know that all tests mathematically guarantee lots of “below average” schools and unhappy customers. This ratchets up parental paranoia, which then can be used to drive parents into the net of school choice—non-public alternatives that include vouchers, charter schools and home schooling. By perpetuat- ing the EQAO tests and publishing results it knows will be used for school rankings, the government feeds into this narrowing of public perception.
It’s no secret that Mike Harris’s education reforms, such as EQAO testing, were aligned with the dreams of the Fraser Institute (where Harris is now a Senior Fellow). However, the same testing and accountability agenda continues with the current government. EQAO results are now publicized on the Ministry’s School Informa- tion Finder website. A Toronto Star article, “Premier defends school shopping with ministry data” (April 8, 2009), explains that the Ministry site, in its original design, included a “controversial online school comparison feature known as the ‘shopping bag,’” which McGuinty claimed “helps parents pick the best education for their kids and spurs principals to do better.” Fortunately, pressure from educators and parents groups led to that feature being deleted.
From Education Forum
Click here to read the rest of Gord Bambrick’s article

2010- 2011: A Quiet Year for A.R.C.s and P.A.R.T.s Save Our Schools! Educators March on Washington.