School Board fires 200 teachers, hires consultant

Vincent J. Curtis

23 Oct 20

RE: Board Chair says governance 'rooted in oppressive structures.' 

RE: Public Board to surplus almost 200 teachers.  Hamilton Spectator 23 Oct 20

Hamilton’s Public School Board has lost its collective mind.  It certainly has lost its way.  After surplussing 200 teachers, the Board decided to hire a consultant to help them examine their navels.

The Board decided unanimously that their “governance models are rooted in historic colonial and oppressive structures.”  This phrasing hardly makes grammatical sense, never mind logical sense.  What makes the governance models of the Hamilton Board so radically different from all others that theirs is uniquely oppressive and colonial?  When did the Board discover that a hierarchy of authority is oppressive?  What makes Robert’s Rules of Order colonial?

The Board can’t put into a logical sentence the problem they want the consultant to examine, though I’m sure he’ll be happy to take their money.

This is not a good sign for parents.  Way too much Kool-Aid is served, and consumed, at Board meetings, and it seems Board members spend a lot of time chasing butterflies in the meeting room.  No wonder a call to order is regarded oppressive.

It’s not clear if the Board thinks that they are oppressed, or are the oppressors in the colonial nature of their governing model.  The easy way out is to blame the model rather than look in the mirror and see a colonizer.  Being a colonizer is wrong, but the consequences of admitting oneself to be a colonizer are personally inconvenient.  Best leave things vague.

The Board’s self-flagellation ought to worry parents.

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