Commentary on education in the 2011 Provincial Election Campaign for my interview on CBC 1 Ottawa, 19 September 2011, 7:50 pm
Since spending on education in Ontario is second only to spending on healthcare, I am a bit surprised that there is not more emphasis on public education in this election campaign than there is. This may be a sign that voters are reasonably satisfied with how things are.
The Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Green parties have their platforms on their websites and that’s where I went to compare what they say about education. There is more platform space devoted to elementary and secondary schools, so I will look at those first.
The Liberals have the most sophisticated platform, and, as the governing party, point to their record and how they will build on it. It’s hard to argue with good standardized test results, high international test standings and no recent school strikes. The people most interested in education, and therefore might most be influenced to vote based on education promises, are the parents of kids in school, so the platforms seem directed to them. Full day kindergarten is being phased in and is so popular that the Conservatives have adopted it. Full day learning for 4 and 5 year olds doubles the amount of specialized space in a school devoted to kindergarten. So far, it has been done in the schools that have suitable empty space. Finding room is about to become more difficult as the roll out moves into full school buildings.
[Along with full day kindergarten, the Liberals are promising childcare in schools. Children can be dropped off early in the morning with the child care provider, go to full-day school, return to child care, and then be picked up in time for dinner. Of course, kindergarten is optional and so is the child care component, but they are tempting. This arrangement will cause major upheaval in the child care business.]
After years when physical education had almost disappeared from the curriculum, the Liberals want to keep children active. How will they do this? They promise to create a Council on Childhood Obesity, by providing all elementary school children with a healthy snack program and by doubling the Children’s Activity Tax Credit. None of the other parties have an obesity plank in their education platforms.
Both the Liberals and the Conservatives agree that having good teachers is the key to good learning. So the Liberals plan to double the amount of time from one year to two years that students who already have university degrees then have to spend in university faculties of education learning how to be teachers. Why? So there can be more emphasis on practical, hands-on experience before they enter their own classrooms. But the university year is relatively short; only part of it is spent teaching in classrooms; and the best preparation for teaching is actually teaching, with the help of a mentor. It seems to me more sensible that first year teachers be formally assigned an experienced teacher as a mentor, and be given a reduced teaching load in a real school.
The Conservative education platform is full of straight shooting hot button statements. With respect to teachers, they say “We will free the teachers to teach” and “We will give teachers the support and discretion to do what they know is right for their own classroom. They will be able to ban cell phones in their classroom, teach phonics, give out marks free from pressure to inflate grades, and write meaningful report cards.”
The Conservative platform also says, “We will root out waste and unnecessary bureaucracy in Ontario school boards and invest it in our kids’ education.” And “We will take steps to prohibit bullies from disrupting the classroom and ensure that no child is forced to go to school in fear.” Hard to argue with that.
But what about the other parties? Well, this is all that the NDP says about education: “We can set a good example for kids so they develop healthy habits that will carry them throughout their lives. We can start by providing support to new moms, ensuring mandatory physical education in secondary school classrooms, banning advertising of junk food aimed at children and making calorie labeling on menus in large chain restaurants the law.” Well, maybe there is another party with an education position on obesity.
And the Green Party? They are going to “Develop youth employment opportunities by updating and strengthening our education system.”
To sum up: the Liberals are running on their record, the Conservatives are running against the Liberal record, and the NDP and Green Party must still be warming up because they aren’t running in the education race yet.
In the post secondary arena, the Liberals will add 60,000 student places to those already existing and will build three more undergraduate campuses so students can go to school closer to home. And there will be an undergraduate tuition grant, someone is going to check to make sure students who get this grant are actually in school, and there will be easier repayment terms for student loans.
The Conservatives will create more than 200,000 new apprenticeship spaces, universities and colleges will be required to coordinate and cooperate, and they will redirect scholarships for foreign students to “our students.”
I’m waiting to hear what the NDP says about post-secondary education but the Green Party proposes to “freeze tuition for the next school year and expand training and certification programs in job growth areas such as green buildings, biomedical technology, renewable energy and sustainable transportation.”
So they pretty much all agree to do more at the post-secondary level to improve our competitiveness in the global marketplace -- more programs, more spaces, and reduced cost to students and their parents.
Given that we have thousands of students coming from abroad to take advantage of our excellent education system, and that they come with cash, perhaps recruiting them is a strategy that could be pursued more vigorously, as is done very well in many other provinces.
