Lines drawn in Ontario teachers’ strike
Power politics threatens local decision-making
By
Doug Koop
ChristianWeek staff
TORONTO–People’s lives changed when teachers in Ontario decided to go out on strike to protest the way the government is handling education reform in the province.
"Individuals like me are involved because of our children," says Aileen Van Ginkel, a Toronto-area mother who stayed home from work and tried to help her own three children keep up with their studies. "Parents have had to change routines, which has not been all bad. But if it goes on for a long time," she adds, "that will wear off."
Van Ginkel considers herself very fortunate. "For some parents it’s a major difficulty. I have an employer that respects the priority my family has for me. They’re flexible. Not all employers are as understanding, but many companies are encouraging their employees to bring their children in."
Van Ginkel, who works as director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s task force on Education, shares some of the teachers’ concerns about the Harris government’s Bill 160. It represents "a real move to centralize decision-making," she says. "Teachers feel left out and that they have little recourse to local school boards."
Indeed, teachers see the declining influence of local boards as a threat. "Parents ought to be concerned about that too, because it makes it tougher to bring about changes at the local level," says Van Ginkel. She also sympathizes with teachers who have been "bombarded with change" in recent years, and are caught "in the middle of an ideological argument of method and curriculum."
But, she adds, "many of us are not impressed by the union leadership. It seems the only way they can see out of it is to maintain a power position–an adversarial, unhelpful relationship."
