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November, 2019

  1. Student Report Cards: A Pawn?

    November 28, 2019 by Tunya

    My comment to a Globe & Mail story (Nov 28, ’19) re Secondary Teachers to strike, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontarios-secondary-school-teachers-will-go-on-a-one-day-strike/#comments

    Student Report Cards should not be a bargaining chip! Not in collective bargaining nor in any “work to rule” situations. To do so is to erase parents from their role in the education of their children. I

    It’s illegal — certainly School Acts that regulate compulsory attendance at publically-funded schools require Report Cards to be sent to parents, usually three times in a year. AND, it is required that parents acknowledge receipt of such reports. This underlines that it is the parent who is indeed the primary agent ultimately responsible for the education of their child.

    Seven years ago we had rancorous bargaining disputes in BC and a parent blog appeared called “Where Is My Kid’s Report Card?” I looked it up and went through very unpleasant memories recalling that time. Why, we even had the insulting experience of blank report cards sent (through the mail)! Very disturbing! No one was taken to court for that or the disruption to families.

    Can parents in Ontario articulate displeasure at these latest twists in so-called bargaining? Or, have parents really been so browbeaten, domesticated and made unimportant to the system that parents simply succumb?