Teachers’ Union defends Trustees and Senior Staff
TORONTO – OECTA, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, has taken an aggressive stance against Minister Calandra with a “how dare you” letter on (you can read it here) the issue of Supervision. The letter suggests the Minister ‘may not have been properly informed’ prior to initiating action and attempts to insinuate itself into ‘the process of placing boards under supervision’.
Objectively, regardless of the reliability of their own sources, OECTA casts doubt on the sustainability of the Minister’s motive behind the appointment of supervisors: “reportedly due to instances of mismanagement and poor decision-making that put its long-term financial health at risk” – they say. Unfortunately for them, the Investigator (Deloitte LLP) found evidence of both. In the letter, OECTA does not provide proof to the contrary
On the other hand, the ministry has justified its concern because it directly and indirectly generates the monies for that financial health… and for student achievement. While the investigator looked into the veracity of “the head count” (student enrollment) on which quality management and optimal decision-making might reasonably rely), OECTA did not. Rather, as one might expect from any association of interested parties, its objections focus on bargaining and labour rights. It is the Ministry that directly and indirectly generates the finances. That ability is generated by the “head count” of student enrolment.
While it refers to the powers granted the Supervisor as extraordinary, OECTA calls on the Minister to ensure that supervisors “not override collective bargaining rights or existing collective agreements”.
The Minister had indicated that the investigations and the appointment of Supervisors (if and where appropriate) would focus on a “back to basics” approach designed to meet student needs. Accordingly, the Investigator(s) found the Board(s) in question short on both responsibilities and made the consequent recommendations to vest control and administration in the Ministry. After all, it is the Ministry that directly and indirectly generates the finances. That ability starts with a “head count” of students eligible for enrolment.
OECTA, which has an army of lawyers a phone call away, accuses the Minister of “attempting to shift responsibility for the consequences of chronic underfunding onto school boards”. The realities may contest that perception. First, both the investigators, who relied on figures provided to them by Administrative Staff and Ministry enrolment numbers, indicate declining student registration and rising revenues.
Secondly, especially in larger boards, Executive Compensation experienced healthy growth. Administrative Staff jealously guard their rights under “operational authority, for which, they insist, they are exclusively responsible to the Ministry. The Board of Trustees hires the Director, approves Executive Compensation and “rubber-stamps” recommendations by Staff.
This summary of the Board-Staff-Ministry relationship may not make OECTA happy, yet notwithstanding its claim that the Minister is exercising an “unprecedented and unjustified expansion of authority”, in Toronto Catholic’s history, Supervision has happened as recently as in 2008. At least three of its trustees from that era are still on the board.
Grudgingly, it concedes that the Minister may have to proceed, but it should “prioritize investments in the resources and supports that students need – while also upholding the democratic principles on which Ontario’s education system is built”. That must include the primacy of the Constitution, one presumes. If so, in demanding [must have] “a formal role in the process through which any Catholic school board is placed under supervision” OECTA may be attempting to insinuate itself in the discussion – via what are commonly are called “denominational rights” accruing to Catholic families and the magisterium (papal representative).
It is an unlikely scenario fueled by anti-Catholic haters. That is why the most significant word OECTA generated for the Minister is a simple [please] reconsider. Why? The investigator is unmoved.
