Hiring rule hampers diversity, Lecce says

Regulation called out over choosing supply teachers for full-time

A regulation that forces boards to hire the most experienced supply teacher for full-time jobs — rather than the best fit — hinders efforts to bring in educators from more diverse backgrounds in schools, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said after hearing from parents in Peel who are concerned about racism in the board.

“What is really the challenge that impedes the ability of boards to make decisions based on merit or equity is Regulation 274, which creates some impediments to hiring talented educators based on their qualifications,” Lecce told the Star in an interview Monday.

He said the rule “eliminates the ability of boards to find, to choose, merited candidates that happen to be (diverse) or of specific backgrounds to better reflect the communities they represent.”

Lecce has sent in two troubleshooters to probe complaints of anti-Black racism at the Peel District School Board and, last week, he met with families.

The issue, however, is one provincial negotiators will raise during the current round of talks with teacher unions, who support Regulation 274. It was implemented to curb nepotism, a huge concern for the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA). OECTA declined to comment on the regulation, saying it is a matter for the bargaining table.

The rule was brought in by the former Liberal government during contract talks in 2012 with OECTA, requiring principals to hire from among the five most-qualified senior candidates in the supply pool for long-term and permanent jobs.

The regulation was later extended to cover all other school boards in Ontario over the objections of the boards themselves, as well as directors of education and deans of Ontario’s faculties of education. Teachers have also complained that they lose seniority if they move to another board.

Last April, Lecce’s predecessor, Lisa Thompson, said the regulation was “outdated” and that the government would address it because it “rewarded teachers based on seniority and did not recognize teachers who were excelling at their jobs.”

Lecce said changing the rule “will have implications at the bargaining table, but I made commitments to understand the problem and work in good faith with all the parties, given this is about student success.”