By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
Education matters have dominated discussions at Queen’s Park in recent weeks, with a flurry of debate and questions with respect to a new education bill. Yet, for all the talk, little has been said—or done—about the growing chaos and crisis unfolding in Ontario’s classrooms. Teachers, parents, and students alike are sounding the alarm on issues ranging from safety and classroom behaviour to dwindling supports and resources to social obstacles, but those real, everyday challenges remain largely ignored amid the political noise.
As a fiscal Conservative, ensuring school boards and trustees manage taxpayer dollars is simply understood and like any mismanagement, needs to be reigned in. But we need government to multitask. We need government to act in a time of need and if there’s ever been a time of need in education, it is now.
As I told my colleagues in the Legislature Wednesday, in one week I received reports of a local student packing heat; a female student holding her urine all day because a male has been given permission to use the female bathroom; and, a call from a dad concerned his Grade 1 daughter has been hurt by the same student twice since the beginning of the school year. These reports are all from families in Haldimand-Norfolk. This is not unique to our area, in fact the horror stories from across Ontario are rampant.
If you haven’t been in a school in recent years, you might be shocked to learn that many teachers walk around with radios in case a colleague needs help with a student hitting, biting or running. A teacher tells me: “It’s constant noise. I’m crowd control first, teacher second.” Other educators tell me teaching is lower on the list as they are expected to be mentors, counsellors, advocates and support workers.
Sadly, it appears government simply sees educators as empty vessels through which the government’s curriculum is enacted. That might have worked years ago, but the world is different today.
A recently retired elementary school principal says his toughest job was balancing the needs and rights of one versus many. You see, public education is failing every single child in this province. Our kids are not thriving and as I told the House during Question Period, the entire education system must be reimagined.
Largely, the problem stems from the fact there is a shortage of Educational Assistants (EAs), occupational therapists and speech pathologists and government is stretching them across all schools in Ontario – the staff resource pool is stretched far too thin to support anyone. This must be changed so we can restore balance to the classroom and to the entire system.
Sadly, along with physical dangers, I’m receiving emails and phone calls from parents concerned with the psychological obstacles. Students, in some cases tell their parents, they are experiencing anxiety, not from academic pressures, but from navigating a growing number of social expectations.
Classrooms should never be a space of tension and fear but a place where kids feel free to grow and question.
I asked the government pointed questions and unfortunately, the Minister of Education deflected by talking about Bill 33. It’s disrespectful to students, parents, educators and all support staff who know the truth.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Ontario’s classrooms are insane, and I question whether Premier Ford and his education minister will restore balance and save public education, or will history remember them as the people who destroyed it.
Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk