 |
| Marvin Zuker |
On Dec. 17, 2021, the Divisional Court of Ontario in Ontario Teacher Candidates’ Council v. Ontario (Minister of Education) ONSC 7386, as a result of an application for judicial review, found that a standardized test that potential teachers would be required to take and specific provisions relating to the Ontario College of Teachers Act 1996 S.O. 1996 c. 12 were unconstitutional and of no force or effect and more specifically as set out below O. Reg. 271/19 and paragraph s. 18(1)(C). Section 15(1) of the Charter had been violated. Teacher candidates whose certification was conditional on passing the math test were to be granted certification.
The Ontario government tabled Bill 48, the Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act, 2018 on Oct. 18, 2018, and the bill received royal assent on April 3, 2019. The minister of education filed two regulations on Aug. 20, 2019, O. Reg. 272/19 under the Education Quality and Accountability Office Act, 1996, S.O. 1996, c.11 adding a Mathematics Proficiency Test (MPT) that all teacher candidates must pass to become certified teachers in Ontario. Reg. 271/19 under the Ontario College of Teachers Act (OCTA) required all candidates who apply for certification after March 31, 2020, to pass that test. Subsection 18(1) of this Act was amended to include paragraph 18(1)(c) relating to proficiency in math.
We must keep in mind that if I am intending to teach in a private and, or independent school in Ontario of which there are hundreds, none of this may mean anything.
The court found that “… only thirteen percent of teachers are racialized … but twenty-six percent of students in Ontario are racialized …”. [para. 67}.
It should be noted the Ministry of Education at no time consulted with the education profession in advance of any of these changes even if the process for making these changes did not require procedural fairness under the relevant enabling legislation.
Equal access to teaching in Ontario, supporting diversity in teaching, sounds like something called “the public interest” which the OCTA arguably should have considered. True, the Ministry of Education issued Policy/Program Memorandum 165 on Feb. 22, 2021, following the revocation of Ontario Regulation 274/12 on Oct. 29, 2020, but these did not address the MPT. By analogy the OCTA went in the opposite direction that the Law Societies of B.C. and Ontario in opposing accreditation to Trinity Western University’s (TWU) proposed law school. See Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University 2018 SCC 32 and Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada 2018 SCC 33.
On Jan.15, 2022, new headlines appeared in newspapers throughout Ontario. “Ontario fights ruling striking down teachers’ math test.” The Ministry of Education appears to be submitting that “it is in the public interest to ensure the constitutionality of the MPT, given its purpose to ensure that children, including those from equity-seeking groups, have teachers who have demonstrated competence in the mathematics curriculum.” It is also argued that a “high degree of deference is owed to government in addressing complex social issues with many potential solutions.”
So many children in these schools have lost a parent or primary caregiver to COVID-19 and who require support services. Many could not get to go to a funeral. See Treglia, D. et al. (2021), Hidden Pain: Children who lost a Parent or Caregiver to Covid-19 (Covid Collaborative). A math teacher today, or any potential teacher today, does not just teach mathematics or whatever but social and emotional learning. Grief to so many is the issue especially now. Not passing an MPT.
A national study in the U.S. in 2018 suggested that teacher evaluations are one reason teachers may be deterred from working in classrooms where students lag farthest behind. It raised questions about whether teachers of colour who may work with students of colour are dealt with fairly. See Observational Evaluation of Teachers: Measuring More than We Bargained for? Shanyce L. Campbell, Matthew Ronfeldt, AERA Journal, 2018. Will the MPT which the Ministry of Education wants increase teacher diversity or help us try to understand more about the causes of systemic differences, so we can begin to address them?
New York City, with the largest school board in the United States, is now considering doing away with a controversial national assessment known as the edTPA for prospective teachers to get certified. Black test takers have been found to be unsuccessful nearly twice as much compared to others. New York’s Office of College and University Evaluation is responsible to ensure that the state’s teacher preparation programs are meeting regulations and standards. California is moving in the same directions given the impact of COVID. See Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The last two years have created the “unprecedented opportunities for meaningful, culturally-relevant family engagement focused on teaching and learning.” Sounds like consultation? See Be A Learning Hero. The heading on page 10 of this report. “Yet, parents value measures beyond grades.”
In a recent survey parents’ main concern was the political involvement in K-12.
Kids today fell far behind in their schooling during the first year of COVID and have not caught up. Many are experiencing mental health problems like never before. Does your school have support staff? See National Center for Education Statistics. Suicide attempts are rising rapidly. See Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, C.D.C., June 18, 2021, 70(24); pp. 888-894. Academic achievement is only one dimension of a student’s education. Does a parent whose child has an individualized education program, a parent with a child with disabilities, focus on whether a teacher passed an MPT? Where is our collective accountability for the needs of students with disabilities who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19?
In 2019, before COVID, only 66 per cent of fourth graders and 73 per cent of eighth graders were at or above a “basic” level of proficiency in reading? Blame to pass along? See supra, National Center for Education Statistics.
Does commitment to diversity conflict with a commitment to excellence? What elements are there in the MPT that honours inclusion of different cultures, abilities and perspectives? Are we not looking for cultural competency in our teacher candidates? A 2019 report found that the Praxis exams which lead to becoming a teacher screen out almost half of people of colour, which is 27.5 per cent higher than the exclusion rate for white teachers. See www.ets.org
The teaching profession is under attack. Do we have any idea how hard our teachers have worked during two years of COVID? No. Parents do appreciate what it means to supervise their children’s remote learning while juggling home and jobs. Teachers are easy marks and yet so many young people want to become teachers. Every day we see how poorly prepared schools may be, often with little or no guidance from their leaders and how difficult it is to operate through this pandemic. Zooming can be a nightmare, parents are not safe, and anyone can get COVID. Anxiety and panic and the insistence of an MPT? Where is the logic? Teachers are our heroes. Let them be.
How about starting with a proper civic education, a civic curriculum, the right, to quote the late Bell Hooks talked about in Teaching to Transgress, empowering students and yes, teachers, to resist and transform injustice. Education, she wrote, was a “practice of freedom” and should not be based on tyranny based on hierarchy. She wrote of “inclusive teaching” which she called “engaged pedagogy.”
The apparent obsession of the MPT to the detriment of the loss of faith in our institutions, to the detriment of civics and civic values considering our increasingly diverse and polarized population. Quite a price to pay for the apathy of young people where fundamental values are so necessary. Kids today must be exposed to a marketplace of ideas and controversies and opposing viewpoints. There are not. See e.g. Bd. of Educ., Island trees Union Free Sch. Dist. No. 26 v. Pico 457 U.S. 853, 868 (1982) and Bethel Sch. Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser 478 U.S. 675, 681 (1986).
Our job must be to be what our children need. Their needs are different in 2022. We have to be different as well. Healing requires time. We cannot discipline our way out of trauma, the loss of life and lost experiences.
Ask children what and who are they thankful for, and they will tell you in a second, their teachers.
Every day she and he are there when that bell rings, they take care of the children. They understand them.
Marvin Zuker was a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, where he presided over the small claims, family and criminal courts from 1978 until his retirement in 2016. He is associate professor at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, where he teaches education law. Zuker is the author and co-author of many books and publications, including The Law is Not for Women and The Law is (Not) for Kids.
Interested in writing for us? To learn more about how you can add your voice to The Lawyer’s Daily, contact Analysis Editor Peter Carter at Peter.Carter@lexisnexis.ca or call 905-415-5811.