The following was written in the fall of 2001

INFORMATION ON

THE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP

       by Bill Kennedy, College Street Secondary School

Recently, your executive has received a number of inquiries concerning participation of D12 members in the Learning Partnership's Take Our Kids To Work initiative, scheduled to take place this November. The position of the District 12 Executive on the Learning Partnership (LP) and its programmes follows a three-part OSSTF provincial resolution adopted at the Annual Assembly of March 2000:

·        that OSSTF dissociate itself from the corporation known as 'the Learning Partnership'

·        that OSSTF recommends to its members that they not participate in this corporation’s projects, such as "Take Your Kids to Work".

·        that OSSTF request that District Executives convey this position to the appropriate school boards.

 Your executive wants to make absolutely clear that its support of this resolution does not stem from any inherent anti-business bias, but from its unrelenting pursuit of two intertwined aims: to protect and raise the living standards and working conditions of D12 members; to preserve and improve Toronto's publicly-run and funded education system There is plenty of evidence that the LP, despite the warm and fuzzy image it has in some quarters, threatens both of these goals.

 For example, during the courageous attempt of OSSTF and its companion federations to fight Bill 160 and uphold the integrity of public education through mass protest in the fall of 1997, the LP did not once raise its voice in support of this action. Instead, it had the audacity to run Take Our Kids To Work on a province-wide basis in the face of our strike.

 Given the constitution of its leadership and membership, the LP's failure to challenge the Harris government's educational policies before, during, and after Bill 160 is not surprising. Among its ranks can be found some of the biggest bankrollers of the Ontario Conservative Party. Also, the LP's present CEO, Veronica Lacey, was Mike Harris' former Deputy Minister of Education. Only adverse publicity prevented her from receiving a hefty performance bonus for extracting millions of dollars from Ontario's public education system And today's chief TDSB trustee spear-carrier for the LP, Donna Cansfield, was, as head of OPSBA in the early days of the Harris administration, an ardent supporter of John Snobelen's infamous ‘tool kit’.

 An examination of the LP's business membership reveals that its overall record of support for public education and educators is a sorry one. Your executive is particularly aghast at the conduct of the accounting/consulting firm members of the LP, who collectively:

 ·        have openly pushed for the privatization of public schools and the contracting out of support staff

·        provided the blueprint for the Bill104-mandated amalgamation of school boards

·        helped lay the foundations for the Harris government's funding formula

·        have promoted the passage of laws designed to weaken the bargaining power of OSSTF and other labour groups

·        advised the Harris government to remove guidance counsellors, physical education and music teachers, and teacher-librarians from federation bargaining units

·        have recommended suspension of bargaining rights and two-tiered contracts for OSSTF ESS members

·        have actively promoted charter schools and vouchers both here and in the United States

·        are now seeking to redefine the duties of TDSB trustees in their own image.

 As a group, LP corporate members listed on the Financial Post 500 have, since the NAFTA agreement, shed tens of thousands more jobs than they have created. So much, then, for the LP member claims to revivify public education and the youth employment scene with private-sector savvy and cash. And speaking of cash, the lion's share of LP financial support comes not from business, but from the federal and provincial governments as well as local boards of education. The TDSB, for example, on a night when it debated the closure of secondary schools such as Midland and Bathurst Heights, forked over $60,000 to the LP with little ado. Also, LP corporate members owe millions of dollars in deferred corporate tax, on which - unlike the average person owing back taxes - they pay little or no interest.  Like a charter school, then, the LP is essentially a publicly funded, privately run institution.

 The public money invested in the LP through direct subsidies and indirect tax breaks is money that is not being spent on teacher and support staff salaries, decaying school infrastructure, textbooks, and classroom supplies. Moreover, the LP is a proverbial Tom Sawyer, using volunteer teacher and support staff labour for Take Our Kids To Work to whitewash its image and garner undeserved credit as a defender of public education while its corporate media members unremittingly attack the state school system.

 Ultimately, it is out of general respect for teacher and support staff labour that your executive urges D12 members to refrain from involvement in Take Our Kids To Work and other LP programmes, worthy as some of these might appear to be. Your executive is keenly aware of the acute pressures that this position places on business, guidance and co-op teachers but asks for their help in upholding it.  Any undue pressure from Board or school administrators on any D12 member to participate in LP activities should be documented and immediately reported to the District Office.