School boards cancel Grade 9 EQAO math test amid job action
Job actions in the ongoing contract dispute between teachers and the province have prompted Hamilton’s public board to cancel Grade 9 math EQAO tests set to begin next week, and the Catholic board has followed suit.
Public board chair Alex Johnstone said “another method of evaluation suitable to the course content” will replace the standardized provincial tests, which contribute to final marks for students taking a first-semester academic or applied math course.
While Education Minister Stephen is giving school boards the option of delaying the tests until June, when students taking a secondsemester or full-year math course write their exams, Johnstone urged him to cancel both tests.
“Grade 9 students in the second semester should be evaluated in the same manner as their peers from the first semester,” she said in a statement.
The Catholic board posted a statement online on Thursday that said “students enrolled in a Grade 9 mathematics course this semester will not be writing the EQAO assessment” later this month.
Lecce announced he was giving boards the option of delaying the January tests until June, but that was before the Catholic teachers’ union revealed it was joining the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation’s boycott of EQAO-related activities.
As a result, he focused his criticisms on the OSSTF, which last month began rolling one-day walkouts, including at select boards on Jan. 8 that didn’t include Hamilton.
Key issues in the dispute include the province’s push for bigger class sizes, a new requirement for students to pass two online courses to graduate and a legislated one-per-cent cap on wage increases the unions argue violates their charter rights to unrestricted collective bargaining.
“It is unfair that union actions are undermining student success,” Lecce said in his statement. “OSSTF said their job action would not impact students, but this is a clear example of union disruption affecting Ontario students.”
“Grade 9 students in the second semester should be evaluated in the same manner as their peers from the first semester.”
ALEX JOHNSTONE
CHAIR, HWDSB