CAQ education reform cause for English school boards’ concern

By Ian Howarth, August 15th, 2012

Francois Legault’s Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ) platform for sweeping changes to the province’s education system has both English and French school boards wondering about their future.
The CAQ’s $291 million, five-year plan calls for an increase in school hours, changing it to coincide with working parents’ daily schedules by having elementary and high school students in class for eight hours a day. The new 9a.m.-5 p.m. school day would apparently first be introduced in the poorer socio-economic areas of Quebec to address the high dropout rate. Legault has been quoted as saying the eight-hour school day would put an end to adolescents going home in the middle of the afternoon and playing video games alone in the house. Instead, they would do extracurricular activities — like sports, cultural classes, or get help with their homework. Teachers would subsequently get more pay if they put in the extra hours, something that would have to be negotiated with Quebec teacher unions.
That part of the CAQ platform – and the fact that the party also supports the abolishment of school boards to grant more autonomy to the individual school – has Lester B Pearson School Board officials concerned. Earlier this week the CAQ unveiled its election platform that seemed to direct its reforms towards French school boards, rather than the nine province-wide English boards. LBPSB chair Sueanne Stein Day is not so sure. “I think he’s just trying to buy anglo votes,” Stein Day said. “There is still the issue of the regional service centres that the CAQ proposes. The whole thing raises more questions than it answers. How will these centres serve the school? Where are the savings coming from? Who will move the staff around? Who runs them (the service centres)?”
Stein Day said that many students regularly participate in a number of extra-curricular activities, both school and community organized and these proposed increased hours could cause certain logistical problems for parents. “Students have sports and cultural activities already planned during the school year. Being in school for eight hours a day is not the way most teenagers are wired anyway,” she added. Both elementary and high school days are currently about six-and-half hours long. Stein Day also said most school administrators are putting in 60 hour weeks and are not interested in more autonomy – autonomy that would presumably mean more administrative duties under the CAQ reform plan. “Mr. Legault thinks you can run the public school system like the private one,” said Stein Day. “Our schools don’t work that way. Anglo boards are run efficiently. Our overhead is less than six percent of our total budget. Our commissioners put in 30-hour weeks and get paid $8,000 per year.”
Stein Day attended the opening of Jacques-Cartier Liberal candidate Geoff Kelley’s Pointe-Claire campaign headquarters both as an individual member of the Liberal riding association and as chair of the LBPSB. “Mr. Kelley has been a good representative for our area,” she said. “And I think the Quebec Liberal party offers a stable environment for education. I didn’t have time to run my appearance by the LBPSB commissioners but I suspect they would back me.” n