The first time I saw him, I was impressed. He was articulate, smart, and sharp. He delivered his speeches like a lawyer in a courtroom. I thought he was a Harvard lawyer or something. But nope. He was just a guy with a BA from Carleton University.
Relaxed, Paul Calandra commanded the chamber like the host at a ballroom dinner. You could almost picture him with a cognac in one hand, speaking to wealthy guests. I looked him up and was surprised. There was no Harvard, no Cambridge, and not even Osgoode Hall on his résumé. Just a three-year BA in history with a minor in political science, which he finished in 2008. I think.
Neither Calandra nor his boss Doug Ford are, let’s say, education experts. Everyone knows Ford is a college dropout.
That’s why when I heard that these two were bringing in a new disciplinary education law tying high school attendance to grades, I was surprised. It’s ironic, but is their new policy going to work to get students back to class?
This is what Ford and Calandra are proposing:
Attendance and participation will count for 15% of the final mark for Grades 9 and 10 students. For Grades 11 and 12, attendance and participation will account for 10% of the final mark.
I asked my mother-in-law about it. She’s a teacher. She said the most important thing for her is the motivo—the reason. Why aren’t the kids going to class? Why are they skipping?
She made me think about me when I was in high school. I showed up, but I couldn’t care less about grades. My classmates who didn’t show up cared even less.
Back in my day in Toronto, we went through a streamlining system. They put kids into three categories: Dumb-Level 3, Less Dumb- Level 4, and Smart-Level 5&6.
Once caught in this stream, it was almost impossible to get out.
This was as punitive to students as it could get. And damaging. Ontario eventually ended streamlining because it hit kids from non-middle class backgrounds the hardest: that is, the majority of us. The system not only failed to address systemic inequities: it preyed on it.
So, now Ford and Calandra are bringing back punitive measures. And I’m not sure why.
It’s clear that the fatalistic education system that Ford, Calandra, and I grew up with didn’t work very well for us.
And I’m pretty sure that teenage Ford, Calandra and me, would just laugh it off anyway.
