Minister axes Provincial Parent Voice

[Catherine]

Hello - I read today in Moira MacDonald's column that Minister Wynne has axed the provincial parents group. To be honest when I found out that the Minister was expunging the group out of the education act, the writing was on the wall long ago.

I don't think replacing the group with regional PICs will change things unfortunately. All that's going to do is move the frustration felt by parents at the provincial level down to regional level.

What's really rich, and something that I agree totally with in MacDonald's column is that the provincial group was doomed when it moved in the hierarchy to under the Policy and Program Branch. I believe that PPB put up the blocks and the gov't knew it.

The gov't has now officially washed its hands of their partnership with parents at provincial level.

Instead of spending money supporting the provincial parents group, an office, meetings etc. That money is now going to councils and parent outreach grants.

You do realized how watered down it's all become don't you.

First parents were promised a "partnership"(under Dave Cooke, Snobelen, Johnson).
Then it morphed to a parent "involvement" (Ecker, Witmer, Kennedy)
Now parent engagement is what we're aiming for (Wynne).

I predict that the minister just demoted parents in the province.

If the PPG and the OPC under the NDP/PCs would have been allowed to move to a different designation other than advisory to the Minister, the organization might have been relevant to parents at the local level and around the province.

For those participating here from that provincial parent group, thanks, it's not your fault. Governments have allow this to happen.

[priceernest]

Hello Catherine,

Firstly, allow me to acknowledge and agree fully with the context of your comments with respect to "Parent Engagement, Involvement, and or Partinership" whatever name tag one wishes to attach to it- as you have quite readily pointed out it is little more than lip service.

The "Critical Role of Parents" is expoused in almost every document, research or otherwise one wishes to scan since the guiding education reform in Ontario starting in 1995. The like mindedness is reflective in the fact that the Education Improvement Commission established for the implementation of education reform was co-chaired by the former New Democratic Minister of Education and Training and the former chair of the Metro Tronto School Board- no, this is not a political remark it is about stakeholder accountability.

Bill 104. Fewer School Boards Act, 1997, is an Act to improve the accountability, effectiveness and quality of Ontario`s school sysyem by(reducing the number of school Boards).
Bill 160. Education Quality Improvement Act, 1997, amends the Education Act, to provide for reforms in education governance, education finance, and education labour relations. The Bill also addresses matters relating to instruction in Ontario`s schools.

In 2009, I would respectfully submit to you few if any even know where to find these documents and or, what they were meant to do; their implementation, transparency, accountability, can best be characterized as a joke.

Then came PPM-122 issued by Ministry of Education and Training, April 12, 1995, School Board Policies on School Councils. Instructoions to all boards to set up "School Councils" which were to have an "Advisory Role" and a direct involvement, engagement to the boards on issues but, surprise, surprise all school councils report to the School Principal, as goes the principal so goes the school council (the principal decides what if anything has any value) and to no ones surprise nothing rarely ever gets to the board level.

Oh yes, and we have "The Road Ahead" reports 1 through 5, from the Education Improvement Commission starting in August 1997. Then comes Ontario Regulation 612/00, School Councils (Interpretation) made under the Education Act, October 25, 2000; it seems the majority of Ontario school boards forgot to set up school councils and or did not agree with and or understand the "Advisory Role". Then Came Ontario Regulation 613/00, made under the education Act, Amending Reg. 298 of R.R.O. 1990, (Operation of Schools-General); it seems the Principals and Vice-principals of the schools were confused on, can they make us do this, it is not part of collective bargaining agreement.

Finally, the proliferation of research on characteristics of effective schools and the "Leadership " function of Principals, and Vice-Principals outcomes in "Student Learning and Achivement" is daunting material in its overwhelming conclusion that the remit of leadership is the most important function of principals and vice-principals. And Principals and Vice-Principals most critical link to students and their learning and achivement is "Parent Colloboration and Dialogue" through school Councils.

The majority of school council members attend regular meetings without ever having their board trustee and or, board representative visit the council for an information session, and a great many school council members have no idea what "Advisory Role" means. And what do the boards and ministry do..............? yea, you guessed it lip service- a new document but, no action on the ground but, lots of focus on "Local School Based Management", by the way that is what principals do.

Trust you will get some results with your efforts.

Regards,
Ernest

[Catherine]

I would agree that most parents on school councils have no idea what their statutory responsibilities are and how much power they have....if only they had the education that groups like People for Education could provide to parents. Maybe on the next agenda of the People for Education annual meeting event the organization could come up with exactly what it means to be an elected parent on a school council.
I believe that trustees and school council parents should be on a level playing field....but for many reasons...that is just not the case.

Sometimes the school and board admin. call the shots and direct their councils and don't know the statutory responsibilities either, or conveniently don't train their councils.

Parents must also take the time to find out what it all means, and not leave it up to others to determine the direction and accounting parent communities want and would like.

For the minister to just nix the provincial parent board just says to me that she's demoted parents even farther down the ladder of layers.

In the new Ministry flow chart Kit Rankin assumes charge of the Parent Engagement Office.

[Sheila Stewart]

You speak well to some of the realities, Catherine. Thanks. Maybe many of us are looking for clarity on what to support, and wanting it real and feasible and meaningful.

[Annie Kidder]

It's a beautiful sunny day, and I should be outside weeding my garden, but.....

I guess I always think part of the problem lies in the fact that parents aren't a "system." Parents are all so different from one another - they want to be involved in different ways, they have vastly differing beliefs about how schools should work, they come from different cultures, want different things for their children (what I want for my child is that she would get up, for instance, and pick up the wet towels on the floor, and maybe start studying for exams, for instance, instead of sleeping all day). So then the problem for the education system is that it's a system, and it knows best how to interact with other systems, but not very well how to interact with something that is the direct opposite of a system.

But it's definitely time to review the role of school councils. They've been around for more than a decade and it's time to think about how they're working, what kinds of things they could or should be doing, and how they work with their schools - in particular with their principals. And while we're at it, maybe we could create a training "system" for principals, to assist them in working more effectively with their school councils.

In defense of People for Education, we do offer workshops for school councils at our conference. And the workshops cover a range of things. But maybe people could help us think about how we could make those workshops more effective.

Okay - I'm going to weed. I'm going to gently remind my child that she has a lot of homework and a science and a math exam to study for. I will try to get her to believe that finishing grade 11 in a semi successful fashion is nearly as important as her not having a boyfriend or the latest facebook scandal. I am sure I will not be successful.

[Sheila Stewart]

A sunny, summer day here in Thunder Bay finally too! Have been telling my oldest to stop studying and get out and enjoy the weather! :)

Good thoughts, Annie!

Mulling over some of this again. This is from one of M. MacDonald's columns:

"We have created an overly bureaucratic process ... it doesn't allow us to hear the breadth of voices across the province," Wynne told me. "I need a more flexible process."

Is that what is also needed for school councils/principals/PICs/boards? Or would that make it worse?

Back to the outdoors......!

[Catherine]

Annie - your comment about parents not being a 'system' is true, but in fact parents were invited to be part of that system which in the past hasn't included parents at all. The question, from a parent perspective then became..."Great, sounds fine....now where do we fit in and what can we do to help?" A provincial body, whether it be the OPC or PPG should have been working to do just that. I think that as soon as the then Ontario Parent Council was demoted to be under the umbrella of the Policy/Program Branch....all bets were off in my mind that the gov't of the day wanted anything besides a nice parent bookend for the governent.

To me one of the clear signs that the provincial parent body was ineffective is that if they were and worked well and closely with parents and school councils there would have been an outcry from all corners of the province to keep the organization in tact. What he have instead is barely a whimper from parents, school councils and, yes, I guess People for Education too.

Sheila - I think that for PICs to make sense it has to make sense and be effective and accountable to parents first. My concern is that all the Minister has done by nixing the PPG and leaving it to boards to develop PICs is shifting the responsibility even lower down the hierarchy of the "system".

Under the NDP the Ontario Parent Council had great profile and direct access to the Minister of Education. Right up there with the EIC, COT, and EQAO. Minister's came to OPC meetings.

Under the Conservatives and Snobelen, Johnson the OPC stayed the same with respect to direct access to the Minister.

Under Ecker/Witmer - the OPC was handed to Policy/Program Branch and that to me was the beginning of the end for the OPC.

Under Kennedy - I think he did the right amount of building with Parent Voice In Education but then didn't allow the provincial parent organization to move to something better for parents.

Under Wynne - Why listen to the PPG when you're already contributing and funding other parent groups, like this one, and school councils?

I'm not sure what the answer will be but I sense more frustration for parents rather than more clarity of purpose for school councils and PICs.

[Gay Stephenson]

I've been following this discussion, not quite sure when I would jump in. But picking up on your last two points Catherine. Perhaps a difficult part of this is that parents won't ever have one point of view to present. So it's important to both fund and listen to a number of different parent voices and groups. I agree that there may be a sense of frustration for parents as to the role of school councils and PICs. I'm hoping that working together, we can make some progress there.

[Catherine]

We'll have to agree to disagree Gay because I do believe that the purpose for school councils is very clear and that the goal for each and every parent, once you strip away regionality is for their child to get the best education possible in a safe environment. I believe that to be true of northern parents, southern parents, parents who don't speak English, same-sex parents.

The job of a provincial body and to a lesser extent school councils is to be the unifier to all of those voices and suggestions and be able to effectively offer up all considerations...not just those one would agree with.

I also do not believe parents need to be funded by their own tax dollars to become engaged. The thousands of parents who experienced the system alongside their children in the days before reaching out grants sure didn't need to be coaxed to meetings, or anything else.

When the school is managed in a way that is welcoming and by a principal who sees parents and the school council as essential to doing his/her job effectively and supports them, the result is very positive.

If on the other hand the school council is appointed because no one wants the job, or the council is a handy tool for the school admin. and board, something else happens entirely.

It would be terrific to have effective school councils listed somewhere, with the reasons why it is effective.

Just getting parents to a meeting is the easy part...the trick is to making it worth their while because as with volunteers they must feel their time and effort is acknowledged and supported. If not, parents will never be back to a meeting.

One of the things that I see as huge in training councils is teaching them how to recruit their volunteers in a away that is meaningful and relates to the purpose of school councils in the first place...improving achievement in a safe environment. Some councils and boards are awful at recruiting to the point that the parents feel used..with little feedback or meaningful decision-making.

Perhaps that's where the PIC's could step in and fill that role.

In my experience with parents and the school system what we found worked really well for our parents was personal contact and individual conversation between parents. I know of trustees who have separate meetings with their parents and no board or school admin. because the trustee felt that often the parents are intimidated by the admin. and aren't as candid in their feelings.

Anyway, there's lots to learn from and I know from someone who was on councils for a few years the offering at our board's training session was poor for returning members. There was no progression in ability, or issues, just the same old "how to hold a meeting" or "fundraising' (even though some councils don't fundraise).

Have a great summer anyway Gay, Annie and all.

I just feel very badly for the efforts of parents out there who actually believed politicians who invited parents to some sort of equal partnership with a system that often gives off hints that it really doesn't want them.

Oddly enough, for those parent advocates with post-secondary students.....guess what? The advocacy changes somewhat but it doesn't disappear one bit.

[Sheila Stewart]

Catherine: I especially like these 3 comments of yours:

When the school is managed in a way that is welcoming and by a principal who sees parents and the school council as essential to doing his/her job effectively and supports them, the result is very positive.

If on the other hand the school council is appointed because no one wants the job, or the council is a handy tool for the school admin. and board, something else happens entirely.

It would be terrific to have effective school councils listed somewhere, with the reasons why it is effective.

I find it quite unfortunate that while some have the first scenario, others have the second. I know I need clarity soon on how this inconsistency can be addressed. How do we get there? Can we get there? We need a sign! I would think that the last thing we need is parents thinking that they have been fools to think they could have made a difference....?!

[Catherine]

Sheila - I thought about your questions and I keep coming back to the provincial parent group, because if this group had been allowed, by the Minister to work to be effective to parents, it could have been the catalyst to all those things I raised in my post. I'm confident that the OPC under both the NDP and Conservatives tried hard to
move parents to their roles as "partners" with the other stakeholders in the system. I believe that Wynne, ex-parent advocate that she was, has now effectively exchanged that unifying role from the PPG to local boards, which for parents and councils is a crap shoot because the success of councils and PICs is so varied across the province.

The new flowchart of the Ministry of Education has sr. bureaucrat Kit Rankin as overseeing the Parent Engagement Office, along with responsibility for Private Schools and Attendance Unit, and 5 Regional Offices.

The once highly publicized and hopeful parent voice in education is now one of three other education areas under Ms. Rankin.

As I understand it a PIC network is in the works, so I would certainly hope that the PICs across the province define and identify first and foremost a chain of communication and hierarchy between Rankin and the Minister and some guarantee be given to parents who sit on PICs that concerns raised by PICs will get the attention of the minister.

Sad when you think of the very high profile the OPC (and by extension) parents had under the NDP.

I also have to wonder whether PICs will be in competition with groups like People for Education and Home & School for the Minister's ear...and which one will she listen to.

My fear is that PICs adds another layer and/or an extension of the Ministry...that's looking to massage agreement and support while leaving a big question on what it is parents like me can expect on the ground as a volunteer, or as a parent who is interested but doesn't have time to go to meetings. How will my voice be heard?

I feel very sorry for the parents on the PPG and those others put on the OPC by the two previous governments who worked hard for the parent voice. I wonder whether Kathleen Wynne, the parent advocate, would have settled for this from another gov't. Somehow I doubt it.