N.S. Teachers’ Union pulls out of provincial council on improving classroom conditions

The Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union has pulled out of the province’s Council to Improve Classroom conditions.

The union’s president, Liette Doucet, says that the government’s failure to consult the union on the report presented by Avis Glaze last month is the reason why.

“Had government lived up to its obligations to the Council, it would have learned that pushing forward with these changes is not in the best interests of students,” Doucet wrote in a press release on Friday.

“Some of the recommendations in the Glaze report, such as assessment being independent of the Department significantly impacts the work of the Council.”

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In her report Glaze, who was hired by Nova Scotia as an education consultant, said that assessment responsibility should be taken away from the Education Department and given to a new independent student assessment office.

The Glaze report also recommended scrapping all seven of Nova Scotia’s English language school boards in favour of a unified “aligned model.”

Zach Churchill, the minister of education and early childhood development, says he is disappointed with the teacher’s decision.

“The council has achieved great progress on behalf of teachers and students in Nova Scotia,” he said.

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“The purpose of the council is to have direct partnership between the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and teachers so that we could more effectively deal with issues that teachers said were barriers to teaching.”

In a statement, Churchill was ambiguous on the future of the council itself.

“On behalf of government, I want to extend my hand in partnership to classroom teachers across this province,” Churchill said. “We remain committed to the goals of the council, on behalf of teachers and students.”

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The NDP education critic, Claudia Chender, echoed the NSTU in laying Friday’s withdrawal at the feet of the provincial government.

“The government’s hasty implementation of this report sidelines the work of the Council and the Commission on Inclusion and shows a disrespect for those ongoing efforts,” she said in a statement.