The Politics Of School Boards
Having worked as a teacher for 30 years, I am well-aware of the politics that pervades and blights education. The higher one goes up the ladder, the more one is…
Toronto District School Board
School Daze
To really understand the mindset of educational institutions today, you have to appreciate one fact: despite nonstop rhetoric to the contrary, they are inherently conservative and risk-averse. Some might even…
Revisionism Run Amok
I have written ten previous posts about Chris Spence. the disgraced former Director of the Toronto District School Board, whose fall from professional grace was caused by his serial plagiarism.…
Where does trustee Harout Manougian really stand on Gay Straight Alliances
Harout Manougian,who is running for re-election as Toronto District School Board trustee in Ward 17 (Don Valley East), is on the record claiming support for Gay Straight Alliances in Toronto…
Chris Spence’s ‘Performance: The Reviews Are In
I realize that the subject of Chris Spence is likely of little or no interest to readers of this blog outside of the immediate area, but I cannot apologize for…
When Is Claiming To Take Full Responsibility Just A Platitude?
When it is proclaimed by Chris Spence, the disgraced former Director of the Toronto District School Board who lost his job earlier this year for extensive plagiarism. In what the…
Did Someone Say ‘Byelection’?
I’m certainly glad that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is adhering to her commitment to a new way of doing politics. I’m sure the Toronto District School Board also appreciates her…
Finding work a struggle for new teachers in Toronto
Flickr image by spDuchamp. *** Note: this piece was originally published with OpenFile Toronto on Feb. 10, 2012, but is no longer available online since their website shut down. ***…
Why Chris Spence Must Be Fired
It is hardly an insight to observe that ours is a world that bears witness to institutional and organizational failures on a massive scale. Those bodies that should be there…
Finger-Pointing 2.0
Well, there can be little doubt that both The Toronto District School Board and the Ontario Ministry of Education have fully embraced the digital age. Finger-pointing abounds on both sides.…
Jimmy Hazel and His Crew Prevail
As I have mentioned in this blog before, one of the many reasons I respect The Toronto Star is that it doesn’t let its adherence to The Atkinson Principles blind…
Toronto District School Board Blinks
As I suspected, after yesterday’s Star story about the Toronto District School Board’s outrageous demand for $3.6 million to release work order information related to the costs incurred in their…
TDSB To Star: It’s Gonna Cost You To See My Hand
The Toronto Star, after conducting an excoriating investigative series on the fiscal incompetence of the Toronto District School Board in its very costly arrangement with Jimmy Hazel’s Maintenance and Construction…
The Glacial Pace Of Change At The TDSB
Regarded by some as a master of platitudes, Toronto District School Board Director Chris Spence says that things are getting better. As outlined in The Star’s investigative series, the board,…
Digital Exercise
With all of the finger-pointing ensuing from the Star’s latest installment on the Toronto District School Board’s questionable relationship with Jimmy Hazel and his Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council,…
The Toronto District School Board’s Political Response
While hardly surprising, the decision of TDSB chair, Chris Bolton, to have a facilities committee look into The Star’s embarrassing revelations about its inappropriate and very costly relationship with Jimmy…
Prepare For The Revolution, A.K.A. Spin, Spin, And More Spin
What is the priority of organizations that are mired in embarrassing public revelations about fraudulent spending of taxpayers money? The development of a good PR plan. At least that is…
The Star Continues Its Investigation
Unless the Toronto District School Board is staffed by a raft of incompetents, it has to have known what is going on. As I wrote in my blog post yesterday,…
The Star Continues Its Stellar Work
One of the Atkinson Principles guiding The Toronto Star is to champion the rights of working people; to my ongoing delight and gratification, however, this tenet does not mean the…
Islamophobia in Canada: A Primer
by Fathima Cader and Sumayya Kassamali Ten years after September 11, 2001, the term “Islamophobia,” once largely obscure, has become all but inevitable when discussing contemporary politics. As Al-Qaeda and…