A new role for school trustees: Tough homework assignment is due in a hurry -- but it's not clear what the government wants
Times Colonist (Victoria)
08 Nov 2005
Comment
EXCERPT

“It's disturbing that the government is "repurposing" education without saying what the purpose is. It's even more disturbing that the minister of education doesn't seem to know what's going on.”

Education Minister Shirley Bond was given an expanded mandate in June to oversee early learning, adult literacy and public libraries. But it's taken five months before anyone in government seems to have considered what this means…

So now, after a disruptive teachers' strike and less than two weeks before school board elections, sitting trustees are being put on the spot: They're being told to justify a role for the new boards before they are elected Nov. 19, without any idea of what role the provincial government plans to give them…

When Bond is asked whether she thinks school boards should have more or less responsibility, she makes it sound as if she hasn't the foggiest idea -- or that she's waiting to be told what to do by Premier Gordon Campbell: "That's the discussion that needs to take place and that's exactly what we're going to talk about." …

The fact that the "repurposing" is suddenly a matter of urgency -- the government proposes to have legislative changes drafted by December -- could leave trustees wondering if they're to be punished because so many boards expressed sympathy for teachers during the strike….

There's no harm, provided their funding is adequate, in giving boards a role in early learning and adult literacy programs. This has been under discussion for years. Early learning programs, in particular, can produce youngsters who are ready to benefit from what they'll be taught at school. …

These are all questions that require more debate and consideration than is possible under the timetable imposed on trustees. It's disturbing that the government is "repurposing" education without saying what the purpose is. It's even more disturbing that the minister of education doesn't seem to know what's going on.