Ontario students stage provincewide walkout to protest education changes

[New Person]

Students at about 600 different schools have said they intend to participate
Students at one downtown Toronto high school chanted "Doug Ford has got to go" as they walked out of class on Thursday, marking the beginning of a protest planned by students at some 600 Ontario schools who oppose changes to the province's education system.

The walkout at Bloor Collegiate Institute was among hundreds scheduled for 1:15 p.m. ET. The provincewide protest by both elementary and high school students was organized by students on social media, mainly Instagram, with the hashtag #StudentsSayNo.

In London, Ont., dozens of students from H.B. Beal Secondary School lined the sidewalks for a protest, before marching to city hall to continue the demonstration.




Hala Ghonaim@Hala_Ghonaim
https://twitter.com/Hala_Ghonaim/status/1113860211549323264

All these #ldnont students are ditching class.

Students at H.B. Beal Secondary School walked out of class this afternoon as part of a province-wide protest against changes and cuts to the education system.


62
1:45 PM - Apr 4, 2019

16 people are talking about this

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Students also marched out of Mississauga Erindale Secondary School, just west of Toronto, carrying signs, many critical of Ford.

At Queen's Park, Ford criticized the walkouts, saying the students were being used as pawns by "union bosses telling the teachers and the students what to do."

Viral social media post led to walkout
A viral post by Natalie Moore, a Grade 12 student at Listowel District Secondary School in Listowel, Ont., started the movement, and it quickly snowballed as her friends around Ontario shared it in their own Instagram stories.

• ANALYSIS
  Fact-checking Lisa Thompson's controversial comments on class size in Ontario

• Bigger classes, new math and sex-ed programs part of Ontario's education revamp

Moore said she was deeply troubled by the Progressive Conservative government's decision to increase average required class sizes in intermediate and high school grades in the province.

"I emailed my MPP, and when I didn't hear back from him, I really wanted to do something," Moore told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Thursday.

"I felt like students weren't aware, or they wouldn't do the research into the cuts. They might hear about them, but I didn't know how much detail they would know."


juliana #StudentsSayNo@melino_juliana
https://twitter.com/melino_juliana/status/1113773600123711490

We aren't doing this to skip class. We aren't doing this because teachers told us to. We are doing this because we are angry. we will not sit back and watch our education be ruined by adults who see us as nothing. #StudentsSayNo


197
8:01 AM - Apr 4, 2019
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Amina Vance, a Grade 12 student at Western Technical-Commercial School In Toronto, helped Moore organize the protest. She said bigger class sizes — which school boards have warned could result in job losses for teachers, and decreases in the kinds of courses offered at individual schools — will be devastating, particularly for students with special needs or other challenges.

"I think the government needs to see — and the government will see by 2 p.m. today — that the students are heartbroken and the students are angry. We are astounded they would do this to us, especially to marginalized students, who are already struggling in our school system," she said on Metro Morning.

"We are showing them that students are informed, that students are angry, and that students are ready to make a difference."

You can listen to the whole interview with Moore and Vance below:

Metro Morning
Ontario students go on strike at 1:15 today.
00:00 12:20
Two students organisers of today's protest -- Amina Vance and Natalie Moore -- are in studio. The walkout is to draw attention to the student's concerns about larger class sizes, lack of support for autistic students, rolled-back sex ed and other issues. 12:20
During question period at the Ontario legislature on Thursday, Ford said the walkout should have been stopped.

"Our teachers have a responsibility to the parents, to the students, to make sure they stay in the classrooms and teach the students," he continued.

"It's absolutely shameful they're using our students for a bunch of pawns," Ford added.

A student posted this image of a protest sign on Twitter. (@kayluahs/Twitter)
Schools preparing for protest
Individual schools and boards in the Toronto area sent letters home to parents saying that administrators were aware of the planned walkout and that they would work to ensure student safety, while noting that the protests are not school-sanctioned events.

"As a school board, we encourage students to be well-informed about issues in our society, to think critically, and to express themselves respectfully and responsibly in articulating views they may have," wrote the Toronto District School Board, the largest in the province.

• Math tests for new teachers? The province's plan may be 'inefficient,' union warns

• Loss of 1 teacher in a high school equals loss of 6 courses, TDSB education director says

Meanwhile, Clarkson Secondary School in Mississauga, west of Toronto, said it will "respect and support the right of students to advocate for causes that are important to them," but asked parents to encourage their children to remain on school property during the walkout.

"If your teen is planning to participate in the walkout, please talk with them about why they want to participate. Share your perspective on the issue and how you would like to see things resolved. If your teen chooses to walk out, please ask them to make safe choices and to be respectful in their participation," the school wrote in a message posted to its website.

The protest action comes weeks after Ontario's Progressive Conservative government announced considerable and controversial education reforms. The changes include increased class sizes for intermediate and secondary grades, as well as new math and sex-ed curricula and mandatory e-learning modules.


rayne ''listen to young people'' fisher-quann@rayneydaes
https://twitter.com/rayneydaes/status/1113741132280647680

we walk out today. to young people: be brave, be bold, do not let them tell you what you know or what you deserve. get up. walk out. we got this.

#StudentsSayNo


1,456
5:52 AM - Apr 4, 2019
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The average class size requirement for Grades 9 to 12 will be adjusted to 28, up from the current average of 22, while the average class size for Grades 4 to 8 will increase to 24.5, up slightly from 23.84.

The decision to increase some class sizes has drawn sharp criticism from some educators, as well as from unions and some parents.

Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson ignited controversy when she said in an interview last month that bigger classes will make students more resilient and more prepared for the workforce.

Moore said she believes Thompson's comments "are an excuse to cut funding and balance the budget.

"That shouldn't come at the cost of our world-class education system."


deelan@deelxn
https://twitter.com/deelxn/status/1113751113033973760

today, thousands of kids are going to walk out in protest of doug ford's education cuts. thousands of kids have decided that staying silent isn't good enough for them. thousands of kids have decided they deserve a voice. #studentssayno


160
6:32 AM - Apr 4, 2019 · Milton, Ontario
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For her part, Vance said larger class sizes will mean that the students who need help the most simply won't get it.

"I see in my school every day, teachers are front-line on the mental health crisis. And teachers are dealing with those crises, student crises, every single day."

In the lead-up to the walkout, students were posting a flurry of messages on social media, such as this video:




KELLY@adamkellogs
https://twitter.com/adamkellogs/status/1112559823751569408

RETWEET THIS IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION #STUDENTSSAYNO


638
11:38 PM - Mar 31, 2019

 

[New Person]

自闭症的抗议完了，这下该中学生的了。真是热闹。

 

[cathlethorpe]

Toronto high school chanted "Doug Ford has got to go" as they walked out of class on Thursday,

 

[金陵]

自闭症的抗议完了，这下该中学生的了。真是热闹。

不一样，自闭症家庭需要卖房才能负担治疗费用。这些学生是因为班级里的学生人数上升抗议。

 

[New Person]

不一样，自闭症家庭需要卖房才能负担治疗费用。这些学生是因为班级里的学生人数上升抗议。

抗议的原因自然个不相同。但是， 自闭症的抗议成功，再次说明，一定要抗议，一定要发声，否则什么都没有。

 

[打倒小土豆]

很明显的是教师工会在后面鼓动，把学生当枪使。教唆未成年人参与政治，真是够无耻的。

 

[New Person]

如果教师工会的利益真的受到侵犯，相信将要到来的不仅是抗议，还会有罢工吧。

 

[hcarleton]

老师，公务员是永远喂不饱的，钱来的太容易，左的不得了

 

[Jay Wang]

小声问，要是eom, ib都改大号班，索男索女都同意吗？

 

[OrangeJuice]

A good example of how students are manipulated by their teachers!

 

[YINGWA]

老师，公务员是永远喂不饱的，钱来的太容易，左的不得了

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-...enrollment-dropped-fraser-institute-1.4276594
Ontario’s education spending increased by more than 30 per cent over the past decade, according to the Fraser Institute, with the bulk of the money going towards teachers’ salaries, pensions and benefits. (and Union)
The right-leaning think-tank reviewed education spending across the country for a period of 10 years and found Ontario’s education budget increased even as enrollment in public schools decreased.
,,,.
The Fraser Institute says 91 per cent of increased spending went to teacher and staff compensation, rising from $15 billion in 2006 to $21 billion in 2016.
..................................................

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-ford-says-teachers-at-war-with-his-government
....
The province has promised no involuntary layoffs for teachers — they simply won’t replace everyone who quits or retires.

Over the last 15 years the province has added 13,000 additional teachers and more than 9,000 ECE workers, all while enrollment has fallen by more than 109,000 students.
Those facts won’t matter, just the union jobs.
....
Ontario has a much lower student-to-teacher ratio than most of the country, (Currently Ontario is 22 per class, Quebec 32 per class....)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-students-used-as-pawns-in-walkout
....
All because students, like their parents and teachers, falsely believe that class size is a big factor in their success or failure.
A story by the CBC recently claimed there is scholarly consensus on smaller class sizes “improve academic achievement.”
There is no scholarly consensus, at all.
The article that CBC linked to is from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The paper cites the same study everyone else does, the 1985 Project STAR out of Tennessee. (Is this outdated?)This is the study cited by supporters and critics of small class size.

There are countless other studies that find little benefit, especially in the upper grades where the Ford government will actually increase class size.

Education professor John Hattie, of the University of Melbourne, ranks class size relatively low on factors that influence student achievement — well below teaching style and ability, teacher efficacy, the curriculum being taught and more.

In fact, according to Hattie, class size isn’t in the top 10 factors. It isn’t even in the top 20.

Same with Matthew Chingos who studied the issue for the reliably liberal Brookings Institute.

Chingos found that after reviewing the literature, there was some benefit in early years and among disadvantaged youth to reducing class size, “but the size of these benefits is inconsistent across studies and often small.”
So if the scientific literature is limited, if the results are “inconsistent,” if the improvements are “often small,” is it worth the investment?

I’m betting few parents would know that in high school — that part of the education system that prepares our students for college, university or the workplace — the average class size is 22 in Ontario.
Is that the reality when you head to post-secondary or into the workforce? (class size @ Carlton U & Ottawa U)

Students will face larger classes and quite often much larger workplaces. Do we really prepare them by keeping them in such small classes?
....
Compared to other provinces, Ontario has a low student-to-teacher ratio.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and PEI, don’t have caps on class size at all.

In Quebec, they have a maximum of 32 students in high school classes, while B.C. has a maximum of 30.

And Ontario has an average of 22?

During the Liberal years the number of teachers went up by more than 13,000 while student enrolment fell by 109,000.

That was good for the teachers unions, bad for the taxpayer and indifferent for the students.

Shouldn’t we be looking at putting students first?

 

[ccc]

 

[New Person]

浏览附件822102

等着教师工会罢工吧。有孩子的家长都准备好了。不要忘了BC的教师工会罢工。

 

[New Person]

未成年人早日参与政治也好。让他们早日知道政治的险恶。现在年轻人不关心政治，不知道为自己的利益而努力。

 

[zeus190]

八万年薪10个月的工作。还有paid pd day。