Bill 115 has changed rules for the hiring of teachers. What are the changes?

On Tuesday, October 16, 2012 I attended a Ward 3 Parent Forum at John English Junior Middle School in Etobicoke, organized by Ward 3 Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Trustee Pamela Gough.

The event included a presentation by Chris Spence, TDSB Director of Education, and a panel discussion about the impact of Bill 115 on local schools.

The meeting, which I fund informative and helpful, has prompted me to learn more about the issues facing education across Ontario.

At the outset of the meeting, Pamela Gough reviewed a document, outlining the recent legislation, prepared by a provincial organization, People for Education:

People-for-Education-the-education-situation-in-a-nutshell1

The Ministry of Education also provides an overview of the legislation.

Hiring practices

I was especially interested in the description, in the People for Education document, of new hiring practices introduced in Bill 115.

The People for Education overview characterizes the changes as follows:

“The educational components of the new law focus on hiring and testing:

“It will change the rules about hiring practices for both long term occasional and permanent teachers. They will be hired based on seniority and the additional qualifications courses they have taken. Boards and principals will be allowed to choose from a list of five teachers.”

When I read this characterization, I thought it might be helpful to read other documents related to Bill 115.

The following documents provide information that I’ve found useful in understanding the new hiring practices:

Text of Bill 115

Sept 2012 memo from Assistant Deputy Minister

Transparency and fairness

The above-noted memo notes that the focus of the legislation is to provide a minimum standard of transparency and fairness in the hiring of occasional teachers who wish to pursue long term occasional or permanent positions in their boards.

The following tip sheet for principals offers a useful summary of the changes in hiring practices:

Principals Want to Know tip sheet

I share this information in the belief that it’s helpful that we know what it is that we are talking about, when we talk about the hiring practices mandated by the new legislation.