The provincial government is repealing regulations that dictate the hiring of teachers based on seniority.
The government is temporarily doing away with previous regulations said to favour supply teachers with the most seniority.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce made the announcement during a morning press conference in Vaughan, saying that merit will lead hiring within Ontario schools.
“Teacher hiring, now in our schools, will be dictated by merit, diversity and the unique needs of schools and communities within the province, over seniority,” said Lecce.
Lecce also says the government feels the former hiring rule rewarded union seniority over merit.
“For nearly a decade, teachers in this province have been hired through a convoluted system that preferred seniority over skills, abilities, diversity and lived experiences of teachers,” he says. “In a time where teacher hiring is necessary to ensure students get the best education possible, these changes will further enable principals to swiftly hire the best candidate so they can focus on improving the quality of education and helping our students be the best that they can be.”
The province says former regulations required school boards to hire from a pool of the five applicants with the most seniority as long-term supply teachers with the proper qualifications.
“Our government is fully committed to standing up for students and parents who deserve the best, most qualified, and reflective educator at the front of the classroom,” adds the Education Minister. “That means, when it comes to hiring educators, principals should be able to hire the best teacher for the job – not necessarily the one who has been in line the longest.”
The province believes Ontario’s newer and younger educators have been “left behind”, and Lecce says they deserve equal opportunity for progression.
“By putting students first, we will empower school principals to hire the best teacher for each and every classroom, and not the teacher who has simply been in the school board the longest,” he says.
The province’s interim policy for school board teacher hiring practices will come into effect on October 29, 2020 and will guide school board hiring until school boards develop their own teacher hiring policies consistent with the PPM to be issued in November.
Publicly funded school boards and school authorities will have until December 31, 2020 to develop and post their own teacher hiring policies that align with the PPM and respect existing collective agreements.
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