Educator and author Molly Hurd’s third and final article in a series on standardized testing takes another look at a failed British experiment. But Nova Scotia is not Britain, she writes, and for us there is hope yet!
Media release: Despite outcry from students, the Board of Governors at Mount Saint Vincent University will vote to approve a budget today that includes a 6% tuition fee increase for the 2018-2019 academic year.
The Canadian Federation of Students-Nova Scotia (CFS- NS) has been informed that they are not invited to the first meeting the government’s newly reinstated provincial Sexual Violence Prevention Committee to address sexual assault on university campuses. This decision comes as continued retaliation by the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, Labi Kousoulis, against the CFS-NS, after an op-ed was published in The Coast on March 15 that was critical of the Liberal government’s decision to vote down campus sexual violence legislation.
Educator Molly Hurd in the second of a multi-part series on Bill 72 and the blessings and pitfalls of standardized testing. Pointing at Britain’s recent experience she argue that one of the consequences of an increased reliance on standardized tests may well be more privatization of education. ” The passage of Bill 72 has set us on the road to adopting a neoliberal agenda for education which has been in think tank AIMS’ sights for years, and has been implemented in countries all around the world.”
The Department of Education will no longer meet with CFS-NS representatives because it didn’t like a Coast op-ed written by its Chairperson, Aidan McNally. The editorial was critical of the government’s unwillingness to deal with sexual violence on campus. “It is our responsibility to hold elected governments accountable to students, not to placate them. If we are doing the latter, we are not serving our members’ interests. The decision of this government to shut students out of representative spaces due to criticism is unacceptable,” writes the CFS-NS provincial executive committee in an open letter.
A video entiltled Africentric Math Cohort isn’t really clickbait, and I am not sure why I clicked it. But I am glad I did. We’ve heard a lot lately about the politics of education, and most of it pretty depressing really. It’s time for a little reminder of some of the great work happening at our schools right now.
This morning’s launch of the Alternative Budget at Province House shows austerity isn’t the only way to run a province. In fact, it is the worst way.
I attended a talk by education pundit Paul Bennett, sponsored by AIMS, to better understand what the one percent are up to when it comes to education. I wasn’t alone, a bunch of teachers were there as well, and the Q and A was a bit tense.
Media release: Educators for Social Justice is concerned about the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies’ (AIMS) efforts to capitalize on the Nova Scotia Liberal government’s recent education reforms. “Teachers have been saying all along that schools are not a business,” said Dr. Pamela Rogers, a PhD in education and English teacher at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford. “AIMS’ represents the wealthiest business interests in Nova Scotia. There is zero diversity on its board of directors. Their record shows they are much more concerned with standardized testing and getting businesses access to public schools, than they are with quality, well-rounded education and increasing equity in school programs.”
“The Nova Scotia School Boards Association and school board members across the province are devastated by the adoption of Bill 72,” said Dave Wright, Vice President of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association. “The loss of elected, local and diverse voice in public education is a tragedy.”