February 10, 2020
Announcement: Moms and Schools Survey

To: 8 online petitioners; 9 email respondents; 6 mail canvassers;145 reporters and commentators; 26 trustee candidates and trustees; 26 of the many voters who are very concerned about our "one-size-fits-all" school boards; and 193 generally interested folks including members of the Social Mavrik Federation.

From: Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation

Disclaimer: If you want your email address removed from my list, please reply to this email with "No more" in the subject line.

This copy of my announcement
is sent to the email inbox of:
CAMPBELL RIVER: Bob Bray is pleased to provide the key findings from a survey of mothers about the type of school they prefer.
Moms and Schools Survey
The "Moms and Schools Survey" was commissioned by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice several years ago. It's results are still relevant and I present a key finding below. The complete survey report can be seen here.

The author, Paul DiPerna, gives some perspective:

"Parents, and mothers in particular, are rarely the main focus of reporting survey results related to K-12 education. To the best of our knowledge, we believe this is the first such attention given specifically to mothers. We need to draw more attention toward moms because they tend to be the primary decision-makers within families regarding schooling and education matters."

Key finding:
Type of School

Neighborhood School

Private School

Charter Schoo l

Home School
Preferred by Moms

45%

37%

8%

7%
The key finding illustrates that regular neighborhood schools are preferred by the greatest number of mothers. It is a much smaller number of mothers who prefer the advantages of a charter school.

This shows I think that when charter schools are a real choice for parents, the regular neighborhood school continues to be a hugely popular choice.

I put these thoughts into an info-graphic which is displayed at the bottom of this message, in the Facebook section.
Public Independent Charter Schools - a petition
This online petition includes a history of charter schools in Canada and was viewed 89 times during Strike Days 16 to 20; 93 times during Strike Days 11 to 15; 110 times during Strike Days 6 to 10; and 93 times in the week of Strike Day 5. It can be inspected by clicking on the blue button or the underlined link below.
New petitioners are shown in red lettering (None this past week)

So far 30 citizens in Ontario and British Columbia have added their name and address to this petition to call on the Ontario Government to allow charter schools in Ontario.
Petitioners'
Province


---------------------





Ontario








---------------------



British
Columbia


---------------------
A ll ow Ministry
To Approve
Up To 20 Public
Charter Schools
-------------------------





SUPPORT = 21








------------------------



SUPPORT = 9



-------------------------
Petitioner Demographics


Name of City or Town
--------------------------------------------------
Bowmanville = 1
Cochrane = 1
London = 1
Malahide = 1
Mississauga = 1
North York = 1
Oshawa = 1
Ottawa = 1
Sarnia = 1
St. Catherines = 1
Thorold = 1
Toronto = 8
Union = 1
Welland = 1
--------------------------------------------------
Campbell River = 1
Chilliwack = 2
Courtenay = 1
North Saanich = 1
North Vancouver = 1
Vancouver = 1
Victoria = 2
--------------------------------------------------
Public Independent Charter Schools - a survey
The email questionnaire can be inspected by clicking on the blue button or the underlined link below.
New respondents are shown in red lettering (None this past week)

So far 9 citizens in British Columbia have emailed their position on independent publicly funded K-12 charter schools and the results are shown below.
Respondents'
Province



---------------------
British
Columbia
---------------------
Allow Ministry
To Approve
Up To 20 Public
Charter Schools

-------------------------
SUPPORT = 9
OPPOSE = 0
-------------------------
Respondent Demographics
Average Age
Number of Children
Number of Grandchildren
Number of Great Grandchildren
--------------------------------------------------
Avg Age=69 C=23 GC=53 GGC=4
Avg Age=0 C=0 GC=0 GGC=0
--------------------------------------------------
An easier-to-read summary of survey results can be seen here.
School Board Schools = Education Instability
Updates are shown in red lettering

School Board High Schools (31 Secular Boards)
  • work to rule began on Tuesday, December 3
  • Strike Day 1 - Wednesday, December 4
  • Strike Day 2 - Wednesday, December 10, against 9 School Boards
  • Strike Day 3 - Wednesday, December 17, against 10 School Boards
  • Strike Day 4 - Wednesday, January 8, against 8 School Boards
  • Strike Day 5 - Wednesday, January 15, against 16 School Boards
  • Strike Day 7 - Tuesday, January 21, against 13 School Boards
  • Strike Day 17 - Tuesday, February 4, against 10 School Boards
  • Strike planned for Thursday, February 13 against 9 Boards (Strike Day 24)
  • issues are compensation, class size, two required e-learning courses and hiring new teachers based on seniority
  • Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation OSSTF
  • 60,000 teachers and education workers
  • 1,350 High School teachers are opposed to strike action

School Board Elementary School s (31 Secular Boards)
  • phase 1 job action began on Tuesday, November 26
  • not completing Term 1 report cards
  • not participating in board or ministry courses outside of school hours
  • phase 2 job action began on Tuesday, December 10
  • not planning any new field trips
  • not collecting money for school activities, except charitable causes
  • phase 3 job action began on Monday, January 13
  • work to rule, no before or after school presence
  • Strike Day 6 - Monday, January 20 against 3 Boards
  • Strike Day 7 - Tuesday, January 21 against 4 Boards
  • Strike Day 8 - Wednesday, January 22 against 3 Boards
  • Strike Day 9 - Thursday, January 23 against 4 Boards
  • Strike Day 10 - Friday, January 24 against 2 Boards
  • Strike Day 11 - Monday, January 27 against 3 Boards
  • Strike Day 12 - Tuesday, January 28 against 5 Boards
  • Strike Day 13 - Wednesday, January 29 against 4 Boards
  • mediator called both sides to the table for talks
  • Strike Day 14 - Thursday, January 30, against 3 Boards
  • talks with mediator continued for a second day
  • Strike Day 15 - Friday, January 31, against 2 Boards
  • talks with mediator ended with no new bargaining dates
  • Strike Day 16 - Monday, February 3, against 3 Boards
  • Strike Day 17 - Tuesday, February 4, against 8 Boards plus 1 Children's School Authority
  • Strike Day 18 - Wednesday, February 5, against 9 Boards plua 1 Children's Treatment Centre
  • Strike Day 19 - Thursday, February 6, against 31 Boards, 2 School Authorities, 5 Children's School Authorities, 1 Children's Treatment Centre
  • Strike Day 20 - Friday, February 7, against 8 Boards plus 6 Children's School Authorities
  • Strike planned for Monday, February 10 against 10 Boards and 1 Children's School Authority (Strike Day 21)
  • Strike planned for Tuesday, February 11 against all 31 Boards, 2 School Authorities, 5 Children's School Authorities, 1 Children's Treatment Centre (Strike Day 22)
  • Strike planned for Wednesday, February 12 against 7 Boards, 2 School Authorities, 4 Children's School Authorities (Strike Day 23)
  • Strike planned for Thursday, February 13 against 14 Boards and 1 Children's Treatment Centre (Strike Day 24)
  • Strike planned for Friday, February 14 against 3 Boards (Strike Day 25)
  • issues are special needs students, one early childhood educator in every kindergarten classroom, classroom-based violence, compensation and hiring new teachers based on seniority
  • Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario ETFO
  • 83,000 teachers and education workers
  • 830 Elementary School teachers are opposed to strike action

School Board French Schools (4 Secular and 8 Catholic Boards)
  • 450 French language schools
  • Franco-Ontarian teachers vote 97 per cent in favour of striking if necessary
  • phase 1 job action began on Thursday, January 16
  • refusing administrative duties
  • phase 2 work-to-rule planned to begin on Tuesday, January 28
  • January 29 - talks held with government
  • January 30 - talks held with government
  • February 3 to 7 - two days of talks with government were scheduled
  • talks "went nowhere" Remi Sabourin, AEFO President
  • Strike planned for Thursday, February 13 against 4 Secular and 8 Catholic Boards (Strike Day 24)
  • Association des enseigantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens
  • 10,500 members AEFO
  • 315 Franco-Ontarian teachers are opposed to strike action

School Board English Schools (29 Catholic Boards)
  • strike notice has been issued and teachers are in a legal strike position
  • contract talks were held on January 9th
  • mediator adjourned talks on January 10th
  • job action began on Monday, January 13th
  • teachers refuse to complete report cards
  • teachers refuse to participate in EQAO standardised tests
  • Strike Day 7 - Tuesday, January 21 against all 29 Catholic School Boards
  • talks concluded on Monday, February 3, with no deal reached
  • Strike Day 17 - Tuesday, February 4, against all 29 Catholic Boards
  • issues include class size, maintaining full day kindergarten. No mention in press releases of any problems with compensation.
  • Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association OECTA
  • 45,000 teachers
  • 1,305 English Catholic teachers are opposed to strike action

Ministry of Education Vouchers
  • Strike Day 5, Jan 15, vouchers announced today, 12,000 applications received
  • Strike Day 6, Jan 20; 130,000 applications received
  • Strike Day 14, Jan 30; 248,000 applications received: 17% of eligible parents
  • Feb 6 - Government is no longer releasing number of applications received
Forwarding
You are welcome to forward this email message but it is better if you click on the link below, copy the URL that appears and paste the URL into your forwarding email
On the other hand, when this email message is forwarded through the "forward" button in your email program it remains linked to your email address. This makes it possible for the eventual recipient to use the unsubscribe feature, but it is your email address that is unsubscribed from my distribution list.
--30--
Contact:
Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation
Phone: 250-900-2422
Mail: 422-1434 Ironwood Street, Campbell River, British Columbia V9W 5T5
Email: bob.bray@socialmavrikbc.ca
Website: socialmavrikbc.ca
The Social Mavrik Federation is a registered society in British Columbia dedicated to cultural politics through endorsing MP / MLA / Trustee candidates and supporting thoughtful petitions, as directed by its members.
Facebook:
I have posted the image below on my Facebook page. I invite you to visit it at facebook.com/bob.bray.334 and, if you do, you are welcome to give it a like, and/or a share and/or a comment.
Click here to see a larger version of the above image.
Twitter:
My twitter handle is bobbrayCR.

A recent tweet and image :
Day 20 teacher strike in Ontario. It's #etfo vs 8 boards and 6 children's school authorities. Remember the Wheat Board monopoly? 1935 to 2012. The school board monopoly can be mitigated by allowing 20 schoolboardless and unionless charter schools. #onchartersch #onpoli #cdnpoli
Click here to see a larger version of the above image.
Between February 3rd and 7th this image was tweeted once a day. As of Feb. 9th the most popular of the daily tweets had been seen 422 times with 18 engagements.
Backgrounders:
Topics covered in previous Announcements: