EMSB at each other’s throats
Management at the EMSB are at each other’s throats over the messy issue of handing over schools to the Pointe-de-l’Île board.
Management at the EMSB are at each other’s throats over the messy issue of handing over schools to the Pointe-de-l’Île board.
Blork 09:37 on 2019-05-17 Permalink
One of the great advantages of not having kids is that I never have to deal with any of this school board stuff.
Brett 12:45 on 2019-05-17 Permalink
You’re still paying for this nonsense through school taxes though.
Ian 13:01 on 2019-05-17 Permalink
I still pay for the fire department through my taxes even though I haven’t had a house fire… it’s part of living in society, and we all benefit from it.
Brett 13:13 on 2019-05-17 Permalink
Right, but the fire department does more than just rescue you from a house fire. They’re the ones on the scene when a pipe bursts downtown or if there’s a gas leak in your neighbourhood, for example. That’s the difference between tax money going towards useful services and being diverted to pay for squabbles among civil servants trying to keep their jobs. There is legitimate reason to criticize the latter situation without having to justify the former.
Ian 13:32 on 2019-05-17 Permalink
As a parent with the interesting situation of having one kid in the CSDM and the other in the EMSB I can actually see the direct benefit of school boards. EMSB kids aren’t suffering from building neglect, have psychological services, and all kinds of other support staff extras including school nurses and IEP staff. Not because they have extra budget, but because they have organized these things. I am super grateful for the EMSB, frankly. You see squabbling, I see legitimate expression of dissent within the board as to how to best advocate for students.
I also have the unique experience of working a job that is administered directly by the Ministry of Education, with little input form the school as to how to best implement things outside of set ministerial guidelines. It is a slow bureaucratic shitshow that benefits nobody in the spirit of fairness for all – which is to some extent achieved – but in practice means that actual responsiveness to evolving school needs, let alone regional needs is next to non-existant except over the course of years if not decades.
If we lose the school boards, students will suffer. When the Ministry jams its fat thumbs onto the control panels, students suffer. Pointe finale.
Jack 05:16 on 2019-05-18 Permalink
I worked for the EMSB and you will never see teachers defending this construct, they know way to much. They are also reminded even by their union that a loyalty clause in the Civil code makes whistleblowing perilous.
The political class with few exceptions are merely a provincial liberal farm team. They all hope for the holy grail that Jennifer Maccrone landed with the safest seat possible in Westmount. The vast majority of our political leadership at the education level are frankly inept, unqualified and play Tammany Hall politics as the article clearly states. Angela Mancini might have been a good dietician but having spoken to her about curriculum let me assure you she is clueless. The absolute last consideration at this level is the students.This from last year…..
“The administrators were also outraged that commissioners on Mancini’s team tried to appoint Lo Bianco’s brother-in-law to a senior position at the board and ignored other more qualified candidates.” He was employed as a bank teller.
Ephraim 11:44 on 2019-05-18 Permalink
I too worked for the EMSB and the corruption was shocking to me… maybe because I wasn’t witness to much corruption before this. There were three boards that joined to form the EMSB, the two largest were great… the third board spread it’s corruption throughout the system.
Ian 11:51 on 2019-05-18 Permalink
All fair points, but it still seems more effective than the CSDM or the more distant and bulky bureaucracy of the Ministry. I’d like to see the EMSB fixed rather than simply abolished.
Ian 11:49 on 2019-05-19 Permalink
Rainbows in kindergartens? Won’t somebody think of the children! I guess you guys don’t know that clothing for little girls is already towards the rainbow-sequin-sparkle variety, not even touching on the many licensed children’s cartoon characters involving rainbows such as Rainbow Dash from My LIttle Pony. I have 2 daughter and my house is been full of more rainbows and glitter than a Gay Pride parade.