Whereas on Sept 12 Minister Broten imposed Regulation 274/12 which requires Boards to use the seniority of applicants as a required factor in hiring teachers for permanent and long-term occasional (LTO) positions, second only to having the required teaching credentials, and

Whereas Reg 274/12 is contrary in spirit to long-established TDSB and Provincial policies designed to  improve parent engagement and ensure that our teaching staff more closely  matches the diversity of our student populations, and as a result will almost certainly cause reduced student engagement, reduced student achievement, and reduced student well-being, and

Whereas a critically important element in student achievement and well-being is the supportive relationship built between teacher and student, Reg 274/12, by giving explicit priority to the applicant’s seniority and not mentioning the more important need of a teacher to have the specific skills and knowledge required to build relationships with the students being taught, severely restricts the Principal’s ability to hire the teacher best suited to engage and excite the students in learning, and

Whereas contrary to the stated intentions of the Minister, Reg 274/12 significantly reduces the ability of new teaching graduates, no matter how excellent or skilled, to gain permanent teaching positions (these positions will have to go to one of the 5 most senior teachers with LTO experience and the proper credentials), and

Whereas all of the associations representing publicly funded School Boards in Ontario, as well as those representing Student Trustees in Ontario, have issued statements opposing the provisions imposed  by Reg 274/12 on the grounds that these provisions work against the promotion of “student achievement and well-being”, and as a result are not in the best interest of Ontario’s students

Therefore, be it resolved that:

a/ the Chair and the Director jointly send to Minister of Education Broten, a formal and urgent request for her to rescind Reg 274/12 with all possible haste stating that, in the considered opinion of the locally elected members of the Toronto District School Board representing the interests of the members of our communities, Reg 274/12 does not place the needs of students first, and that it is contrary to 169.1(1) of the Education Act, which states that the primary duty of each School Board is to"promote student achievement and well-being”,

b/ a copy of this request to Minister Broten be sent to each MPP, to the Chair and the Director of Education of each Public School Board in Ontario, and to the Ontario Public School Boards Association.