NSTU reaction to education report

Union says government’s acceptance of report bad for public education

Dr. Avis Glaze, an education consultant from Ontario, presented her report ‘Raise the Bar’ last week, outlining 22 recommendations she said will improve the education system.

NSTU president Liette Doucet says the government has decided to double down on its bad decisions by once again throwing Nova Scotia’s education system into chaos by attacking the collective rights of teachers.

“Without any meaningful consultation with parents, teachers or students the premier decided he needs to legislate away more collective rights from teachers that have been in place for 123 years,” says Doucet.

“Removing principals from the teachers union is not going to improve the quality of education, creating a college of teachers isn’t going to impact teachers’ performance. All these measures do is offset costs from the Department of Education onto the backs of teachers while further eroding their ability to negotiate fair contracts,” says Doucet.

She adds, “If the premier and Minister Churchill were serious about improving education, they would be opening up the Glaze report to public comment and consulting with teachers, parents and students before implementing any recommendations.”

To that point, Education Minister Zach Churchill says there was already much consultation done during the period that Glaze gathered her information for her report.

Last fall, Glaze met with more than 500 stakeholders during 91 consultations across the province. Another 1,500 people responded to an online survey on the issues.

But the NSTU is skeptical about what lies ahead.

“History shows this won’t improve education, it will not save the province money,” Doucet said. “We need collaboration and co-operation from this government, not one that dictates and legislates.”