by Klaus Rohrich
December 23, 2004
The decision by the Ontario Liberals to discontinue teacher testing is the worst kind of pandering imaginable. Because the teachers’ unions in Ontario are so powerful and carry so much influence with parents, it appears the Liberals will do just about anything to garner their support.
Needless to say that this is yet another of the Liberals’ sleazy attempts to keep themselves in power.
In announcing this ill-conceived decision, Gerard Kennedy, Ontario’s minister of education said "Ontario’s 193,000 teachers are professionals and we’re treating them with the professional respect they deserve. Unfortunately for students, this program was neither professional or (sic) about learning, but rather the old politics of division." Parsing these statements is a pundit’s dream, in that they tell one everything one needs to know about the motivation of the speaker.
I would be interested in Mr. Kennedy’s reasoning as to why the testing of teachers was "unfortunate" for students and exactly how the program was politically divisive. My guess is that the minister’s actions have more to do with paying back political favours and bashing the Conservatives, than they have with improving education.
Naturally the teachers were against professional testing. One union head called the testing program "insulting and not very relevant". I cannot for the life of me see how testing professionals in their avocation is in any form insulting or disrespectful. The term "professional" denotes a proficiency that is on par or above a certain set of standards pertaining to the profession. To say that testing the proficiency of those teaching our children is unnecessary is akin to saying that physicians and surgeons do not need to keep abreast of new developments in their respective fields.
What is this teaching the children? For openers it teaches them that it is not necessary to be proficient in a subject in order to pass. How would these so-called educators react if their students basically told them that they would no longer be taking tests, as they were "insulting and not very relevant"? There is little difference between this position and that of the teachers.
It’s a small wonder that educating our children has become such a slip-shod affair and that the poor results of the education process stare us in the face each and every day. The fact that so many of our young people are functionally illiterate speaks volumes about the efficacy of our educational system and the competence of our teachers. It’s no wonder that most retail establishments today have idiot-proof cash registers because many of their employees, products of our school sysem, would not be able to do the job without them.
When my youngest son entered high school I came to realize that like almost everything else the government provides, education is geared to the lowest common denominator. as a result we made the decision to send him to a private school, despite the financial hardships this presented. That’s the best and wisest investment we ever made, as my son’s school only taught courses at the advanced level. He was challenged at this school to the fullest of his ability. But the real worth of this investment was the sense of personal responsibility that my son gained from his school experience. He truly understands how the real world works and isn’t afraid to face difficult challenges with optimism.
Parents who send their children to public school today are risking a lot. The chances that their child will emerge after twelve years of school with the reasoning skills of a monkey are better than 50-50.
The fact that Mr. Kennedy caved in to the threats and whining of the teachers’ unions is understandable, but not forgivable. Perhaps Mr. Kennedy was afraid that the teachers would physically assault him in the same fashion that they assaulted his predecessor, Elizabeth Witmer, when she was invited to speak to the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ association in March of 2003. a gang of teachers with paper bags over their heads to hide their identity physically attacked her as she was attempting to leave.
Behaviour such as this is indicative of how badly the teaching profession is in need of standards. Mr. Kennedy’s announcement just gave teachers carte blanche to do anything they want. Why would sane and rational parents send their children to a school under the control of uncontrollable teachers?