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?
Today, Jan 25, 2020, I wrote the following comment to G&M story re BC teachers preparing for strike: Student report cards should not be a bargaining issue! For teachers to refuse to produce report cards is to erase parents from their role in the education of their children.
Ultimately, it is the parents who are responsible for their children’s education. That assumption is made abundantly clear by this part of the BC School Act: “Acknowledgement of receipt. Written student progress reports for students in kindergarten through Grade 7 must contain a place for the signature of the parent to acknowledge receipt of the report.”
Thus, the parent is then able to determine if the child should stay in that school, whether to ask for further help, decide to change schools, home educate, consider private tutoring . . .
7 years ago we had rancorous teacher bargaining disputes in BC. A parent blog appeared called “Where Is My Kid’s Report Card?” Very unpleasant memories recalling that time. Why, we even had the insulting experience of blank report cards sent through the mail by some districts! Why? Following the letter of the law? Imagine the parents’ feelings.
Mr Schaub, Mediator, should not allow report cards as an issue on the bargaining table.