The Ann Arbor Public Schools board discusses a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on Jan. 17, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
AP Photo/Joey Cappelletti
A tradition of nonpartisanship on locally elected school boards is changing, following a national shift toward divisive political partisanship.
Language matters to law. Changes in how words are used can impact our ability to know about people’s lives and protect their rights. Protestors gather at the Alberta legislature during a rally for trans rights in Edmonton, Feb. 4, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
Transparent public discussions are needed around how ‘sex,’ ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ are being defined and given effect in education, law, public policy and beyond.
Some fault teachers for an inability to restrict phone use at school. But both students and some parents resist this, and problems far exceed in-class distraction. A student puts her phone in a holder at Delta High School in Delta, Utah, in February 2024.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Sachin Maharaj, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Four Canadian school boards are suing social media giants. This comes as 95 per cent of Ontario schools report needing more resources to support student mental health.
Social media apps can cause children to become increasingly distracted.
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Moms for Liberty, founded in 2021 and now boasting 120,000 members, could ride its conservative, limited-government message to a position of strong influence in the GOP.
The state takeover is based largely on one school.
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‘Eco-champion’ teachers face barriers in implementing climate change education. Communities and school boards can find inspiration to support them from boards with bolder climate commitments.
School trustees play an important role in shaping education, yet during election time voters often have little awareness of trustee candidates.
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According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, far-right groups have been trying to stack school boards with candidates harbouring anti-equity ideologies.
Parents protested a new anti-racism policy at an Ontario school board saying their children could ‘internalize shame and guilt because they’re white.’
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Recently, specious claims against critical race theory have been showing up in Canada. School boards are being questioned about their anti-racism policies and the teaching of CRT to students.
Parent activism for racial justice in schools is parent engagement. How are school boards valuing and supporting this?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A free speech expert defines censorship and applies that lesson to current political struggles in the US to ban books from public schools and libraries.
School board elections are increasingly contested.
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School board elections are becoming increasingly fractious and political events, with candidates focused on one or two issues. An education policy scholar explains why that’s a worrisome trend.
Québec Premier François Legault responds to the Opposition during question period, Feb. 7, 2020, at the legislature in Québec City.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
Ontario and New Brunswick francophones have spoken out against Québec abolishing English school boards, fearing this could set a negative precedent for French language education rights across Canada.
Political motives help explain why states take over schools.
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While state takeovers of schools are nothing new, the ones taking place as of late suggest a political agenda is at play under the guise of school reform, a political science scholar argues.
Quebec school children are seen here in this 2008 photo. In 1997, the province of Quebec divided secular schools along English and French lines instead of by religion.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Recent calls to create one secular school system in Ontario for each official language, like the system in Quebec, may actually reinforce the divisions that have plagued Canadian history.
A campaign for Los Angeles Unified School District school board candidates.
SEIU Local 99 | Education Workers United Follow
Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto