Media release: “When a child is hungry; when they aren’t sure where home will be at the end of the day; when they don’t have adequate clothing; it’s very hard for them to focus on learning,” says Wozney. “The evidence is clear that on average, children living in poverty experience worse academic outcomes and are twice as likely to drop out of school. They also have a much higher chance of developing a mental health issue.”
The NSTU has received word that funding and staffing for the Options and Opportunities (O2) program has been cut at some high schools next year. O2 is a co-op program that provides young people with guidance and on-the-job experience to help them positively transition into the workforce.
News release: NSTU President Paul Wozney says the elimination of at least 20 Early Literacy Support (ELS) teaching positions will impact hundreds of students. He is again calling on Education Minister Zach Churchill to release the full list of schools across the province experiencing a reduction in ELS next year.
News release: The NSTU is calling on the government to release a full list of schools across the province where Early Literacy Support teaching positions have been cut.
I attended a town hall on the state of public education in Nova Scotia. What emerged was a system still very much in crisis, but with teachers and parents demonstrating a real desire to listen and learn from one another.
NSTU president Paul Wozney: “Nova Scotians are tired of the petty political battle that has overwhelmed our education system and demoralized teachers. It’s time to change the narrative and begin a constructive conversation about what needs to be done to make Nova Scotia Canada’s leader in delivering quality public education.”
Teachers Union president Paul Wozney is not impressed with the first meeting of the government-appointed Provincial Advisory Council on Education (PACE). Presented as somewhat of a a replacement for disbanded school boards, it turns out PACE’s ‘meetings will not be public, and based on the sparse minutes of its first meeting the government intends to limit any actual influence the group can have on its decision making process and sweeping power over public schools.
Nova Scotia Teachers Union president Paul Wozney writes on the intricacies of reporting on class size caps, and offers suggestions on improving transparency in terms of that important issue. “Now that elected school boards are gone, it’s imperative that parents are armed with the knowledge they need to advocate on behalf of their children. They must have the facts so they can hold the government directly accountable and ensure commitments that impact their children are met,” writes Wozney.
News release: With the abolition of elected school boards, Nova Scotia now has the least accountable and transparent education system in Canada, says NSTU President Paul Wozney.
The provincial government is engaged in an orchestrated effort to move education jobs out of the union sphere. 1000 school principals, 200 or more school psychologists and speech and language pathologists, social workers and new positions in the expanding Schools Plus program will no longer be unionized. “While this may be a less sensational way of weakening the unions than, say, imposing wage freezes and concessions that force teachers and other education workers out onto the picket line, it poses no less a threat to their very existence,” writes John McCracken.