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I am a reasonably intelligent person who has read many challenging books, and yet I find myself flummoxed and befuddled by the latest press release by our illustrious Minister of Education. For context, the union representing Ontario high school teachers, the Ontario government, and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association are currently in bargaining. Issues like class sizes—which affect staffing as well as workload and the learning environment for students—would typically be included in the bargaining process, but instead the government has chosen to announce them by press release. Unsurprising, as they've replaced the previous Minister of Education, whose experience with kids amounted to managing a goat farm, with Lecce, a trust-fund baby turned PR hack who went to a private school.
You can read the union's bargaining positions here.
Okay, so back in March, the government announced that Ontario students would have to take four mandatory eLearning courses to graduate. This is unprecedented anywhere else in the world. The only places that come close are five US states with spectacular education systems that are the envy of the world—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, and Virginia—and those fine exemplars of student achievement only require one.
Today, presumably in response to public pressure, Lecce halved the number of mandatory eLearning courses. This government likes to halve things, because they are very good at math and 50% is an easy number to math. The press release he issued is something to behold. So here are a few of my questions after reading it; feel free to add your own:
1. Who will decide which students are exempted from mandatory eLearning? Will this include the large swathes of the province without high-speed internet connectivity? How much will the consultant paid to evaluate each individual student's worthiness to be exempted be paid, and how close a family friend must he be to Premier Ford?
2. Will the consultation results with Ontarians be released even though the government refused to release the class size consultations and spent $1 million on health and phys. ed consultations, only to barely change the curriculum from the one they didn't like, and claimed that the results were rigged by "special interests"?
3. How much will this consultation cost, and how many teachers and education workers need to be fired to pay for it?
4. What does "high quality, Ontario teacher-supported" eLearning mean? Does this mean that the course will be delivered by certified Ontario teachers or a private company with links to the Ford family?
5. How is eLearning hands-on?
6. How does the government's cuts to the education budget, which have led to massive cuts to STEM subjects, help students gain STEM skills?
7. How can students without access to quality hardware and software learn STEM skills on their own?
8. Under 10% of high school students currently take eLearning courses, which the government plants to increase to 100%. Of that 10%, how many successful eLearning students are not motivated, academically inclined students on a university pathway, who speak English as a first language, do not have significant learning disabilities, own a computer, and have access to high-speed internet at home?
9. How does the province plan to ensure that all students can access fast, reliable wifi by next year, given how far we are from having that now? Will the province ensure that First Nations communities all have wifi? While they're fixing that, can they also fix the drinking water?
10. What in the blazes do they mean by: "Many courses will be designed to not require connectivity to complete the course material." Will students without reliable wifi receive paper correspondence packages?
11. How will they ensure that students don't just cheat on their eLearning courses like mine try to do?
12. When I was in Grade 10, my science teacher almost failed me for refusing to dissect a frog, suggesting that hands-on dissection was a curricular expectation without which one could not pass Biology. Was he wrong? Did he lie to me? Could I have just done a virtual reality simulation? Could thousands of frogs be spared every year?
13. How does Mr. Lecce think virtual reality works, exactly? Are students all going to have awesome cyberpunk headsets?
14. What if students puke in the headsets like I do when I wear one?
15. If most students struggle with math even with direct teacher instruction, how will they manage Grade 12 Data Management through eLearning?
16. Grade 10 students are 15-16 years old. Will they be left unsupervised to complete their Careers modules?
17. What is Stephen Lecce smoking, and is it better than the usual quality of Ontario government weed?
Perhaps I shouldn't be so mean to our poor government, though. They are having a No Good, Very Bad Day. Their attempt to gut Ontario student unions (a trial balloon for turning Ontario into a Right To Work state) was struck down in court on account of being completely illegal and arbitrary. Ha. Ha.
You can read the union's bargaining positions here.
Okay, so back in March, the government announced that Ontario students would have to take four mandatory eLearning courses to graduate. This is unprecedented anywhere else in the world. The only places that come close are five US states with spectacular education systems that are the envy of the world—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, and Virginia—and those fine exemplars of student achievement only require one.
Today, presumably in response to public pressure, Lecce halved the number of mandatory eLearning courses. This government likes to halve things, because they are very good at math and 50% is an easy number to math. The press release he issued is something to behold. So here are a few of my questions after reading it; feel free to add your own:1. Who will decide which students are exempted from mandatory eLearning? Will this include the large swathes of the province without high-speed internet connectivity? How much will the consultant paid to evaluate each individual student's worthiness to be exempted be paid, and how close a family friend must he be to Premier Ford?
2. Will the consultation results with Ontarians be released even though the government refused to release the class size consultations and spent $1 million on health and phys. ed consultations, only to barely change the curriculum from the one they didn't like, and claimed that the results were rigged by "special interests"?
3. How much will this consultation cost, and how many teachers and education workers need to be fired to pay for it?
4. What does "high quality, Ontario teacher-supported" eLearning mean? Does this mean that the course will be delivered by certified Ontario teachers or a private company with links to the Ford family?
5. How is eLearning hands-on?
6. How does the government's cuts to the education budget, which have led to massive cuts to STEM subjects, help students gain STEM skills?
7. How can students without access to quality hardware and software learn STEM skills on their own?
8. Under 10% of high school students currently take eLearning courses, which the government plants to increase to 100%. Of that 10%, how many successful eLearning students are not motivated, academically inclined students on a university pathway, who speak English as a first language, do not have significant learning disabilities, own a computer, and have access to high-speed internet at home?
9. How does the province plan to ensure that all students can access fast, reliable wifi by next year, given how far we are from having that now? Will the province ensure that First Nations communities all have wifi? While they're fixing that, can they also fix the drinking water?
10. What in the blazes do they mean by: "Many courses will be designed to not require connectivity to complete the course material." Will students without reliable wifi receive paper correspondence packages?
11. How will they ensure that students don't just cheat on their eLearning courses like mine try to do?
12. When I was in Grade 10, my science teacher almost failed me for refusing to dissect a frog, suggesting that hands-on dissection was a curricular expectation without which one could not pass Biology. Was he wrong? Did he lie to me? Could I have just done a virtual reality simulation? Could thousands of frogs be spared every year?
13. How does Mr. Lecce think virtual reality works, exactly? Are students all going to have awesome cyberpunk headsets?
14. What if students puke in the headsets like I do when I wear one?
15. If most students struggle with math even with direct teacher instruction, how will they manage Grade 12 Data Management through eLearning?
16. Grade 10 students are 15-16 years old. Will they be left unsupervised to complete their Careers modules?
17. What is Stephen Lecce smoking, and is it better than the usual quality of Ontario government weed?
Perhaps I shouldn't be so mean to our poor government, though. They are having a No Good, Very Bad Day. Their attempt to gut Ontario student unions (a trial balloon for turning Ontario into a Right To Work state) was struck down in court on account of being completely illegal and arbitrary. Ha. Ha.
