What a mess! As this is being written, Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer is about to appoint supervisors for the Toronto and Hamilton school boards, with Ottawa/Carleton’s supervisor already in place. Trustees at all three boards have been in a very loud and public struggle with the provincial government — a struggle with strong partisan political undertones, given that a number of the ‘rebel’ trustees have already declared their intentions to run for the Liberals or the NDP in the next election and have strong union backing. On the other hand, by careening between confrontation and conciliation, the provincial government has appeared neither caring nor competent.

For years, OQE has called for elected trustees to challenge board administrators about poor student learning results as evidenced by provincial test scores. Occasionally, one or more trustees have asked tough questions about what students were learning. But board administrators, backed by a compliant majority of trustees, have simply weathered a few stormy board meetings and thereafter maintained a steady ‘progressive’ course.

It is the height of irony that when trustees finally stood up to their administrators, they did so not to insist on improved student learning but to fight to keep janitorial jobs unionized! Our public school systems truly are dysfunctional — and in many more ways than provincial auditor Al Rosen could ever realize.

What’s the answer then? Ditch the boards?

That’s not a simple question to answer because ‘boards’ consist of two parts that need to be addressed separately: a) the elected board of trustees and b) administration and staff. While we have all met and cheered on a few good trustees who truly care about student learning, the vast majority of trustees operate in one of two modes: compliant minions of administration or (more so recently) defiant defenders of partisan political positions. In neither mode are the trustees discharging their primary responsibility of ensuring that students are being adequately prepared to participate in society to their fullest capabilities.

What about the argument that elected trustees are a vital democratic link between the public and administration? If voter turnout is any indication, the public doesn’t see the trustees as ‘vital’ at all. The small number of voters gives the teachers’ federations significant influence over trustee elections, as a number of trustee candidates who publicized their OQE connections have discovered. Members of fringe groups like the Communist Party are  regularly elected to school boards.  A few years ago in..