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FoIPoP can speak where teachers cannot. The province and regional administration are scared of documentation for a reason.

I am a 20 year veteran teacher in a reasonable large high school outside the HRM. Very few of my colleagues feel safe at our school, for any number of reasons. And virtually every teacher I know can either tell you what their exit strategy is, even if that strategy is to buy a lotto ticket in hopes of suddenly not needing employment.

Violence : the fights, the students who bring knives / brass knuckles or worse, the sheer volume of destructive behaviour [ destroyed washrooms, damaged furniture, purposefully killing trees and shrubbery ]

I would encourage any journalist or concerned parent to do a FoIPoP request related to the number of violent incidents, the number of confiscated weapons, number of staff members injured on duty, number of lockdowns related to violent threats… these numbers will be lower than reality, up they will be eye opening.

And while you are at it - if you have the fortitude - FoIPoP how many requests there have been to repair the video cameras which are supposed to help deter or at least document behaviours that need to be addressed. Just because a camera exists does not mean that footage exists or is retrievable. I am aware of far too many incidents where students received ZERO consequences for shocking actions, because the word of a teacher - of three teachers who all saw the incident - is not accepted if a student says “I didn’t do that” and no video evidence exists.

(While I am at it… FoIPoP the umber of work orders to make repairs to school facilities such as washrooms, and how many are still not completed. Be sure to ask for the number of work orders for the same kinds of repairs pre-pandemic).

Harassment & verbal assault : it is a rare day that I am not called a b*tch, c*nt or told to f*ck off when I ask disruptive students in the hallways to please be quieter to not disrupt classes. Further to that point, it’s a rare class period when I cannot see at least as many students in the area outside my room as there are actually attending my class. I have been screamed at and called a criminal when I ask students to go to the classes they are supposed to be in. Not this year for me, but I can think of a half dozen of my colleagues who have shown me emails they have received from parents demanding that their child be given higher grades, following up with threats of going to “the school board” if this doesn’t happen - and I am aware of many, many cases where teachers have been forced to give passing grades (often much higher than passing grades) because of parents following through on threats. Optics rule all.

I would encourage any journalist or concerned parent to FoIPoP the number of verbal assaults happening - and to ask a lot of questions if no evidence of verbal assault exists (do you believe it is not happening, or are you curious as to why there is no documentation?). Also to FoIPoP how many F1 (final) grades are dramatically better than the S1 or Y1 grade. FoIPoP about any written/emailed directives about giving students a particular final mark (though often those directives are verbal only to avoid evidence).

You would be shocked at the rampant illiteracy and the lack of interventions. If you dig around on the EECD website, you can find reports about the number of students who are meeting expectations on provincial assessments. Pay particular attention to how many are meeting the reading expectations. In a typical NS high school classroom, at least HALF the class is not meeting reading expectations. Now think of trying to teach a room of 30 students when half of them cannot get meaningful information from a written passage. So you have 15 students for whom written notes / examples / slides / books increase their frustration and disengagement - so you still have to teach and assess them, but now you need to find a way to do that one to one to use verbal communication, without ignoring the other half of the class - and (?) without lowering the standards.

FoIPoP what supports exist to help the students who cannot read at grade level; FoIPoP to compare average grades for those students compared to the ones who are meeting reading expectations; FoIPoP about the number of adaptations for assistive technology - and how often that technology is in need of repair.

It is glaringly obvious that the mental health of our youth (and staff) is at a crisis point. FoIPoP the number of referrals for supports including Schools Plus. And ask for the average wait times. Do the numbers suggest adequate mental health supports? If not, think about how that might impact classrooms and if perhaps some of the “acting out” may be related.

But perhaps we think teachers will be providing those mental health supports in addition to their actual job of teaching? Hmmm… do they have training for that? FoIPoP about the topics / agendas of professional development (“Inservices”) in the last three years. Do you see things there that you feel will help students? Do you notice any trends? How much was spent bringing in experts from outside the province? How much of the professional development has a name that you understand? Do you see mental health, de-escalation of violence, literacy support? How much is based around a book / software platform / service that an RCE or that the whole province is buying and is there evidence that the uptake of that product is actually helping students? Oh - and the cynic’s question: how much of teacher’s time to collaborate and learn from one another is instead spent on things that made it onto the agenda because they “look good in a report”?!

Please, SOMEONE, use the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy tools to compare the number of sick days teachers took in 2018-19 to 2022-23 and to this school year. Also, compare how many teachers were out on a long term medical / stress leave. Why would those numbers be so different? You might also ask about the number of unfilled sub jobs ten years ago compared to five years ago to this year. When a job goes unfilled, a teacher gets pulled from a valuable “extra” (reading recovery, math intervention, guidance, resource) or loses what little time they have to prepare for classes with students in front of them. Teacher who fill in have less time to plan and less time to do marking, which means that a goodly number of unfilled jobs mean that students somehow lost out (either by losing a direct support, getting a lesser quality lesson, or not getting feedback as quickly). Taken together, those number would, I believe, paint a clear picture of a system pressed well past its breaking point.

Please, use your power as a citizen and use Freedom of Information to get an idea of what schools in 2024 are really like.

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Systematic Abuse Enabled and Contributed by School Administrators 

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Systematic Abuse Enabled and Contributed by School Administrators 

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My child’s been out of the classroom for three consecutive weeks! I have been repeatedly blocked from meeting with anyone within the school board. No one will address any of these issues. I’ve been slandered by the lead administrator. I have been falsely accused of harassing staff because I directly addressed his corruption and demanded answers and accountability, and now I’ve been served a PPA! My daughter is terrified to go to school not only because of the two years of relentless bullying, Cyberbullying and physical/verbal attacks wherever she goes that have been ignored and enabled by the school; but the terror that the biggest bully of all inflicts on students, staff and parents alike- the principal! I’m livid! No one will listen to us and there’s so many more students and parent’s experiencing the same thing at this same school. They’ve attempted to oppress and silence my right to free speech by conferring with other parents in this family of schools by attempting a cease and desist demanding I speak to no one at the school teachers included. No one will talk about my child’s education!!! I’m running out of ways to safely get my child back inside that school classroom! Grade 7, this is not ok! Unethical breeching children’s and HUMAN rights; breech of the Code of Conduct expected from public school workers; hiding all the incident reports of the bullying over the last two years but claiming to have “handled it”! This is ATROCIOUS! On our tax dollar funding?!?! How is this even possible? Crooked. What’s done in the dark always comes to light! This attached audio was sent to me by another parent. Their student had recorded an interaction from this admin just to show his mom what he goes through. He cannot even understand English and has had his translation tools revoked from him. How do they expect him to preform a lesson if he doesn’t understand anything said to him?! So bad; it’s just so so bad! 😢💔

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I’m tired of seeing students cringe and cower when a violent student comes back into the room. Sure, it’s grade 1 but these kids can pull another kid down to the ground by pulling their hair in an instant. Or what about the kid who insists on destroying the classroom and if the teacher uses tone with them and they seek revenge but throwing rocks at the teacher and cutting the back of their head. Or what about the 5 year old that targets little girls and punches them whenever he can. This is happening and being covered up. Maybe the classroom isn’t the right place. Maybe play based therapy would be more helpful. Kids get dropped off at a schools and we’re supposed to put up, shut up and fix it! It’s too much especially when there’s more and more of that happening every day and every year. Remember, little bodies grow to be big bodies and then we totally lose control.

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Anyone see this thread? https://twitter.com/nspfpe/status/1661068112257589248

Is this normal behaviour to see from schools? Basically reading the riot act to school workers to keep their mouths shut around the Education Minister or deal with Human Resources?

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Nova Scotia’s 10.6% School Violence Rate Has Nothing to Do with Dodgeball

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Nova Scotia’s 10.6% School Violence Rate Has Nothing to Do with Dodgeball

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The NS Government’s position is a 5% rate for violence, NS Parents for Public Education says it’s at least 10.6% based on actual data from the NS Government. On one hand the province releases one set of numbers and on the other they quote different numbers when talking to the media.

https://nsparentsforpubliceducation.ca/2023/04/17/april-17-2023/

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Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education

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Nova Scotia's 10.6% School Violence Rate Has Nothing to Do with Dodgeball

On March 21, 2023, a fifteen-year-old student at CP Allen High School in Bedford, Nova Scotia allegedly stabbed two staff members. The next morning, Nova Scotia Minister of Education, the Honourable Becky Druhan appeared on CBC Radio's Information Morning to answer questions from host Portia Clark about the incident. That interview was a benchmark in the Minister's overall response to school violence across the province. And while it should have opened doors for intense media and political probing, it seems to have been a hot minute, that has since passed.

This post will review parts of that interview and attempt to once again shine a light into dark corners the Nova Scotia Department of Education appears dreadfully afraid to venture.
Note: we used audio transcription software called Descript and cleaned up the wording for readability.
Portia Clark: "Is it the first ever attack on school staff in the province that's involved a weapon that you know of?"

Minister: "Yeah. So you know the reality is that our schools are elements of our community. We don't live in bubbles and neither are our schools bubbles. But I can say that school safety is our utmost priority. Incidents like this are incredibly rare. But our schools do prepare for them. And so I can say that this is very much a focus to make sure that we're ready in the event that these incidents do happen."

Portia Clark: "And, and when you say rare, do you know whether it's the first time that this has happened or it's one of a few incidents?

Minister: "I'm not aware of any other incidents in which something like this has happened."

It's a very simple question that had to be reiterated and a lot of words in response to say the equivalent of "I don't know." That's what it boils down into: "not aware." We find this hard to believe given the fact that it's been reported years ago that educators are wearing Kevlar protection in Nova Scotia schools. We would imagine it's quite simple to find out by reviewing the data. Unfortunately, getting details about incidents is a near-impossible task due to privacy concerns or the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development claiming certain data simply isn't available in FOIPOP responses. We have data to the contrary and have had no problem publishing said data in recent history. In fact, our most recent post cross-referencing crime geolocation data with school addresses was largely validated by Halifax Regional Police in a recent CBC article.

Portia Clark: "Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education have put out press releases in recent months, claiming that education workers face the highest rates of workplace violence in the province. Is violence against educators on the rise in Nova Scotia?"

Minister: "Yeah. So we know that overall, violence in schools has remained steady over the last number of years. But having said that, I really want to emphasize, you know, there is always a need to improve the safety experience of our students and our staff. And safety is something that we always need to work on and to improve. And so that is something that there's a focus on at a regional level. It's also something that there's a focus on at a department level, but I, but I do want to say that today our focus is very much on supporting the C.P. Allen community, families and staff in the recovery from this really traumatic and unusual event."

Portia Clark: "And when you say remains steady Minister, what's the data around that rate of violence in schools in Nova Scotia?"

Minister: "Yeah, so again, um, it's remained steady at approximately like 5%. The numbers have remained fairly consistent, but those numbers don't tell the full story. Um, many, many instances of reported incidents actually are nothing like the one that was experienced yesterday at C.P. Allen, and are instead things like children in elementary school arguing over who's got the next turn in dodgeball and getting into a pushing match. Um, so there's a lot of information within the data that can help us make improvements in safety. But really I wanna keep the focus today, um, because this is such an exceptional and traumatic incident on how we're supporting our C.P. Allen family too. And I want to assure them that that's the focus right now today at the school.

There's a lot to unpack in that short paragraph.

Let's bypass the attempts at redirection by Minister Druhan. It's quite obvious she wants to turn the focus on how the province is supporting the staff and community of C.P. Allen and not answer a direct question with a clear answer. This is political sleight-of-hand 101: ignore the question being asked and answer the one you wished you had been asked.

This is not the first time the Minister has inferred a consistency in school violence exists, as if it is normal for there to be school violence. In 2022, Minister Druhan told Saltwire Media "Education Minister Becky Druhan said the 2020-21 school violence numbers are pretty much on par with the past five years, though they did fall when students had to work from home during the spring of 2020." At that time, it was disclosed that the numbers, while extraordinary, do not provide an accurate picture as many incidents are not reported in the system.

In 2022, Minister Druhan also stated "...the province has "realigned staffing to ensure that our teachers are able to focus on teaching and providing the supervision and guidance that they always have. And I think we're seeing that that's not leading to any increase in violence." If all incidents were indeed reported, we could consider this an accurate sentiment. But at the same time, the real question is, why isn't there a decrease in incidents. No increase is not an indicator of improvement.

It's not 5%. Not even close.

Minister's Druhan's perspective on school violence, is not based on accurate and complete data. Minister Druhan believes that the rate of violence is approximately 5%. To be gentle and kind, that statement is not fact-positive. We have data from FOIPOP releases 2022-20092-EDU and 2022-01645-EDU that show the incidents for physical violence from 2017-2018 school year up to the 2021-2022 school year, along with the student enrollment numbers for those years.

Here are exactly the rates of violence in Nova Scotia schools for the past five years (not including the current one):

The number isn't 5%. The number isn't even "steady" as the Minister put it. It's 10.62%. But that's the tip of the iceberg.

We allege that the problem has always been there, but at a higher rate than the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development states. Is this simply Minister Druhan downplaying the facts or is the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development not being forthcoming with data to its own Minister? Considering other Ministers of Education and FOIPOP response letters regarding violence in schools have pedaled the same objectively false 5% number, we will consider giving Minister Druhan and her predecessors the benefit of the doubt and allege this number is a systemic belief; a myth; simply a Department of Education and Early Childhood Development talking point, repeated enough until it's perceived fact.

A number of problems exist with data collected by the province. For instance, enrollment does not equal attendance. Factoring in the total number of days all students were actually in school would show a much more accurate rate over a 195-day school year. We must take into consideration that for both the 2019-2020 and to a lesser degree the 2020-2021 school years, in-person instruction was largely interrupted by COVID-19 shutdowns. This would largely explain the reduction for those two years. In fact, if you take just the roughly 65 school days (that's 36% of their school year) kids were out of school in 2019-2020 you'd see the rate isn't 8.43%, but is actually 13% based on their potential school attendance and actual attendance.

Again...not 5%. This isn't advanced calculus. This is basic mathematics.

Provincial data does not factor in sick days, storm days, or any other excused or unexcused absence. An attendance policy is not active in Nova Scotia high schools and so being at school, does not equal attending class and does not guarantee students remain in the building or even on school property for the entire school day. In any case, basing the school violence rate on enrollment is not ideal, but it's certainly far more accurate than the 5% number that provincial government is repeatedly trying to sell.

Simply put, for the last five years the rate is nearly 11% without factoring in the percentage of days students are actually in class. The real number is likely much higher.

The Minister states that many incidents are similar to the nature of a dodgeball argument that results in someone being pushed. This comment really did not play well within the education field. It was offensive in fact to many staff who have dealt with violence, and to other staff who have been injured by school violence. Poor and callous example aside, considering two public school employees were rushed to the hospital due to student-inflicted knife wounds, what exactly is the truth here?

Is there no severity index for each incident in the system? (No, there's not. We've seen the system.) Are we really okay with continuing to consider schoolyard shoving in the same category as stabbings, gangs jumping students in washrooms, fight clubs at lunchtime, students being body slammed and sucker punched in hallways, videotaped incidents of students being slammed headfirst into tiled locker-room floors, or kicked in the head repeatedly on school property? Staff have reported being bitten, punched, spat on, had objects thrown at them, and many have been injured badly enough to require medical attention, some even hospitalization.

One of these things is not like the others, Minister Druhan.

Does anyone at the provincial or regional levels have data on violent incidents in NS schools like the one at CP Allen?

Is the Minister simply unaware of or doesn't recall such incidents, but yet is quite aware of the violent dodgeball-inspired shoving wars that Nova Scotian children are so very well known to engage in?

You can't have it both ways.

You can certainly state 99% of incidents are related to harmless dodgeball-style shenanigans and 1% related to stabbing educators.

What you can't do is allege that most incidents are harmless but have no awareness or commentary about the serious ones, nor the departmental transparency to show us what the data actually says about what actually goes on inside our schools.

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Nova Scotia's 10.6% School Violence Rate Has Nothing to Do with Dodgeball On March 21, 2023, a fifteen-year-old student at CP Allen High School in Bedford, Nova Scotia allegedly stabbed two staff members. The next morning, Nova Scotia Minister of Education, the Honourable Becky Druhan appeared on CBC Radio's Information Morning to answer questions from...

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The NS Department of Education has a poisonous culture that leeches down to the unelected Regional Centres.

Silence. Talking points contradicting facts. Ignoring concerns from children, parents and staff. Deflecting and evading questions. It’s pure politics. The problem isn’t the teachers. It isn’t the support staff.

It’s the system. We need to change the system. The only way to do that is by holding them accountable. That means we hold our elected representatives accountable to speak on our behalf. Share this Padlet with them:

https://padlet.com/NSPFPE/testimonials-8xqontkbg7qkr89k

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A number of people here have stated some school Administrators are actually deleting incident reports. Others mentioned administrators being disciplined or discouraged from suspending kids.

Name some names. Name some schools. Show YOUR evidence. Nobody knows who you are. This needs to be out there.

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TW for article.

DYK that NS has the highest rate of sex trafficking in Canada? Are you aware of how many of these victims are groomed in schools by other students who can't be disciplined be because of the lack of intervention ir support? Young men and women who wander the halls day after day and don't go to class. There's no attendance policy, so why would they? They befriend other students and offer them "jobs" or "relationships" or "easy money". And in a province with the highest poverty rate, it's no wonder that's alluring. It's very hard to get out once forced in, and it ruins lives.

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Just a few years ago, Sasha was tied up and beaten for eight hours because her pimp suspected she had told someone what was happening to her.

"A lot of women like me," she said, "they don't want to tell because they don't feel safe."

Sasha (not her real name) recently escaped sexual exploitation and human trafficking that started in 2017. CBC News has agreed to protect her identity for safety reasons as her pimp is still at large.

Human trafficking numbers rose by 44 per cent across the country in 2019 from the year before. In Nova Scotia, they tripled -an increase of more than 400 per cent - accounting for almost one in 10 of all reported incidents in the country.

But those statistics may not paint an accurate picture, say law enforcement and advocates who believe the actual numbers are even higher because so many cases go unreported.

The new report from Statistics Canada released in May shows that in 2019, Halifax had the highest rate of police-reported human trafficking in the country. At more than 10 incidents per 100,000 people, it's 7.5 times higher than the national average rate.

Halifax also reported the second-highest number of incidents of all Canadian cities, second only to Toronto.

With a population of roughly 6.5 million people, Toronto recorded 40 cases of sex-related human trafficking offences. Halifax, with a population of fewer than half a million people, reported 30 cases of sex-related trafficking.

Miia Suokonautio, director of the YWCA in Halifax, has been working on issues of human trafficking in Nova Scotia for years.

"We actually partially expected an increase," she said in an interview.

Crime rate reporting isn't the best indicator of what's actually happening in a given community, Suokonautio said, because it tends to miss underreported crimes. She said survivors in human trafficking cases are particularly vulnerable, traumatized and stigmatized, which makes coming forward much more difficult.

"Our suspicion is that [the numbers] reflect increased reporting and increased awareness and increased support for victims," she said, adding that she thinks they're getting closer to what they know anecdotally are the true numbers.

Sasha's story, like so many others, began a few years ago with what she thought at first was a romantic relationship. But after a few months, things changed dramatically.

"The love and respect turned into guys coming over," she said in an interview.

There were parties with drugs and alcohol, and men paying to come to the parties and watch Sasha and her partner have sex. It quickly escalated into Sasha being prostituted and having no control over the money she was bringing in. Whenever she did not co-operate, Sasha said, she was beaten.

"I had my ribs broken, I had my eye socket broken, I had my nose broken a couple of times," she said. "My sternum fractured, my lips busted open. You name it."

Although she has since escaped that situation and will be acting as a peer-support person for other survivors through the Elizabeth Fry Society, she chose not to report the crimes committed against her.

In 2019, Canada launched a national plan to combat human trafficking that includes more support for survivors.

The YWCA recently launched TESS, the Trafficking and Exploitation Services System, which is made up of 184 people from over 80 different agencies across Nova Scotia, including direct service providers, schools, police, RCMP and child welfare. Its goal is to increase awareness of human trafficking in the province, and co-ordinate better support for survivors.

But there have also been improvements in other parts of the system, Suokonautio said, including a position specific to human trafficking within law enforcement and the justice system, a dedicated provincial investigations team, dedicated Crown prosecutor, dedicated provincial victims services, and navigators.

"All of which are moving us toward a system of improved detection and improved response," she said.

Cpl. David Lane is part of the Nova Scotia Human Trafficking Unit, a special law enforcement unit made up of specially trained RCMP and municipal police officers using a victim-centred approach specifically to deal with multi-jurisdictional human trafficking cases.

While he also attributes the increase in police-reported incidents to increased awareness and support for survivors, Lane believes human trafficking crimes in Nova Scotia are still significantly underreported.

Cases like Sasha's are not captured in the numbers because she didn't feel safe reporting. Furthermore, because traffickers are often master manipulators, many survivors don't even recognize themselves as victims.

"They think they might have had some choice or some responsibility, which is not the case," Lane said.

The statistics also don't tell us how many victims in one jurisdiction originate from another area. Nova Scotia, he said, is well known for exporting human trafficking victims to other parts of the country.

Geography could also be a factor in why Halifax has disproportionately high rates of human trafficking.

"They promise [victims] a better life in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal," he said in an interview.

Increased numbers show victims no longer afraid

Vanessa Tynes-Jass is now a lawyer in the Toronto area and CEO of an advocacy group for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation called Survivor's Unleashed International.

But when she was 17, she was lured into a sex-trafficking ring in Halifax, and was trafficked across the country for over a year and a half, eventually escaping in Ottawa.

She's encouraged by the increase in numbers.

"It shows that people are not being afraid to report these days," she said in an interview.

Thirty years ago, when Tynes-Jass was being trafficked, she said victims were brainwashed by pimps to not trust the authorities. The risk of incriminating themselves and of being physically harmed for reporting was real and scary, and there was very little support to help them through the process.

"Maybe the climate has just changed for victims," Tynes-Jass said.

"They feel like they're going to be protected. And that's a huge change in this world."

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N.S. sees highest rate of human trafficking in Canada, incidents tripled in 2019 | CBC News

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Human trafficking numbers rose by 44 per cent across the country in 2019 from the year before. In Nova Scotia, they tripled -an increase of more than 400 per cent - accounting for almost one in 10 of all reported incidents in the country.

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My child's teacher sent an email saying the planned unit on The Hate U Give is cancelled. We can't get any information about why. Our kid told us they think someone complained, but we're being ignored by the teacher and school. Is the RCE censoring Black writers? Is it inappropriate to have conversations about Black experiences or anti-racism in schools? If books are being delisted by EECD, we should know why, and who is making those decisions.

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I am a high school teacher… but decided to stop teaching in 2021. I decided to take a break from teaching because the stress of dealing with behavioural issues from students, combined with lack of support from the school district was making me sick. I needed change.
I’ve taught all over Canada and the issues are similar everywhere. However in many other Canadian jurisdictions teachers are compensated financially for the challenges of their jobs, but not in Nova Scotia. Our system is completely broken. So I left teaching and opened my own business because there is far less stress and I’m earning more money than I would if I taught in this province. With the increase of living expenses (hello, NS Power rate increase of 14%????? - that’s criminal), the INSANE taxes of this province and the stress of the teaching job, it made no sense to continue. I pray that things do change. I have hope, but until there is change I will not return to teaching in this province.

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When I read through the posts and comments, I could't help but notice the number of times I saw something like, "parents need to hold the school accountable, "parents need to contact the media," or "parents need to speak up about this." While I appreciate that the sentiment is out of support and respect for students and teachers, I'm very aware that it points to a much larger systemic issue. I'm also aware that many parents are not supportive of teachers and schools at all. Schools, teachers and students are now at the mercy of parental compliants. When parents speak up, things happen! On paper, this sounds great, and it can be, but it also means that educators have had their ability to make professional decisions stripped from them. No longer does the education system stand for something because the school is not a respected authority on education in the community A grade level no longer has a standard of achievement - it's now an inflated right of passage... because if there is a mark below a 50%, the teacher is called up. When parents can threaten a teacher’s job because they weren’t informed earlier about a grade they don't like, when a teacher can be disciplined for not responding to an email within 48 hours, when parents leave messages for the superintendent because they don't like how a teacher phrased a notice home, or when families go to the head of student services because their child receives consequences they don't like, it all feeds the problem. Teachers end up walking on a mountain of eggshells while they carry all of the other duties that keep piling on. Parents have all the power now. The school system is a reflection of a massive tug of war to please everyone (often parents with opposing views). So when all voices blame the teacher instead of the system that led to a problem, the school will do whatever it can to protect itself.
If parents spoke up about a broken system and ALSO empowered teachers and schools by publicly declaring trust in our professional judgement and expertise, we might have a fighting chance. But as long as parents continue to insist that their child is the exception to the rule and go to war against teachers, children will not be held accountable for their behavior or their education, and schools will continue to be a mess.

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Imagine if parents were fully aware of how extreme the issues/disruptions were within our classrooms. When parents hear conversations regarding difficult classrooms and challenging students, they often reflect on their own school experiences and are imagining what "challenging students" were like "back in the day". Well, things have certainly changed in the past few decades. Students today are far more easily agitated, socially inept/unaware, and far more disrespectful to their peers and teachers. These issues compound with a heavily underfunded inclusion policy, which has created a perfect storm for chaos in many classrooms. The amount of energy that is consumed by a growing majority of behavioural students is depriving the remaining students of an actual education. If parents were a "fly on the wall" of many NS classrooms, there would be an overwhelming cry for educational reform throughout the province!

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A *huge* issue no one seems to be talking about (or screaming about) is the total lack of educational resources for teachers. We're basically given a list of goals for the students ('curriculum'), an empty classroom, and told to "Go ahead". The curriculum is so incredibly vague and every teacher interprets it differently. The quality of every child's education depends to an incredible extent on the knowledge, ability and personal effort of their individual teacher. There are hardly any lessons or units provided to us, we're all wasting our time scrambling around trying to figure out how to reach these outcomes (and often what that would even mean). The amount of time *every single teacher* spends trying to plan lessons to fit the vague curriculum *every single day* could be so much better used actually assessing and serving students if the government and RCEs provided us with the materials to do our jobs -- unit and lesson plans, textbooks, slideshows etc, even just as guidelines. The only reason things are this way is because it costs them nothing for us to stay for hours after school working but would cost them significantly to create and provide appropriate materials. We need *far* better standardization of lessons -- at least in elementary school. The RCEs act as if responsive teaching is the magic bullet and every teacher will know how to best reach the needs of every student every day. I am happy to raise my hand and admit that I do not. I need a structure. I have seen many teachers burn out trying their best but not knowing how to do their jobs. Others coast doing very little. We have teachers constantly posting on social media begging each other to share lessons and materials. And who knows how good these materials are? Shouldn't someone from higher up be at least giving us somewhere to begin? Shouldn't someone higher up be responsible for paying attention to education research? (Don't get me started about the Reading Recovery program which has our government pouring money down the drain to make students worse readers -- it's been very well researched, not that our RCEs would take notice of that) It's disturbing to me how little care has been taken with the actual *content* of our students' educations.

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Today a student took our pride flag outside from the wall in the cafeteria and burned it! The flag was signed by past students. The jerk would have had to climb on something to get the flag from the wall.

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I teach grade 2. I have 26 students. English is an additional language to 18 of them. 10 of them need EAL support, 4 of them have no English at all. Out of the 8 students whose first language is English, 4 are learning center students with high needs, nonverbal ASD, cognitive delay, ADHD/ODD, severe anxiety. I have very minimal support from the EAL teacher because their caseload is massive, so I spend most of my day adapting, translating, explaining and reexplaining, dealing with meltdowns due to frustration….my classroom is falling apart and I can’t do the job I was hired to do. I have 10 different languages spoken in my room, I am constantly flipping between languages on Google translate to provide instructions or basic expectations. I do not have training in EAL and many of these kids are suffering from trauma. I am constantly occupied and unavailable to provide basic support to my students because I need to translate in multiple languages all day. I love my students and I would love to have the time to sit with them all day long and provide support but I am only one person and I am not trained for this and constantly feel like I’m failing.

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Education assistants provide personal care, behaviour management, and emotional and academic support. In some situations, they can assist with specialized programming, physical therapy, speech therapy, assistive technology, self-care needs, and any other health care needs under the guidance of trained professionals.

What if I told you, that our role is to perform the duties mentioned above, but only if there is time. Only if we are not chasing students that run away daily. Only if we are not clearing students from their classrooms because they are not safe. Only if we are not closing down learning centres because the student inside is a safety risk; to themselves and others. Only if the students inside the learning centre are regulated enough to allow children in wheelchairs to have the necessary breaks from those wheelchairs. Only if we are not being physically attacked; kicked, punched, pinched, spit on, bit, deflecting objects being thrown our way, having our hair pulled, our clothing ripped, our personal items destroyed. Only if we are not answering to one of many messages that read “I need help” from our fellow EPAs.

The reality is, we are not capable of doing “our jobs” with the amount of EPA’s we are allocated. We are not capable of doing our jobs with the amount of needs in each classroom. Or with the amount of staff out sick/injured each day. Or the lack of substitutes to fill these absences, because one day spent in a school has turned them away.

Above, I told you what the technical definition of an Educational Program Assistant is. But, to me the true definition is someone who walks into the classroom with a big smile, forgetting what happened the day before, hiding their recent injuries and exhaustion. Someone who advocates for what their students need and celebrates every step in the right direction, big or small.  Someone who recognizes that all of the violent outbursts and difficult days are not by choice. A lot of these students have experienced and continue to experience trauma. We remind them that no matter what happened yesterday or even earlier that day, that we love them and that they are safe with us. We work tireless to help foster successful play with their peers. To show their classmates that aside from the behaviours they witness, our students are funny and kind. With us by their side they can be the best partners during math games or reading buddies. We advocate for our kids to be seen as more than their diagnosis or behaviours. An Educational program assistant is all of this and countless more.

Any EPA will tell you, we do not do this job for the money. Sadly we do not make a living wage. Without the support of our spouses income, or having a second and third job, we could not do what we do. We do this job because we know that without us, many of our students could not attend school. They could not build friendships or play with other children their age. We do this because without support, our students wouldn’t be able to keep up in the classroom. They would be left behind academically and socially. We do this job because we care.

I can assure you that our cries for help are not money driven. Yes, we need to make a living wage. Every single person in this province needs that. Our cries for help are for more support. More EPA allocations, along with more training and resources. We need to feel safe in our workplace. Our families need to know that we are safe in our workplace. We need more transparency in our schools. You need to know what a day in the classroom really looks like.

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I have been a teacher assistant for more than 30 years. I've been punched, pinched, bitten kicked etc. I've also been hugged, kissed and been told secrets. I LOVE my job. I've gone to my students houses on days when they just didn't want to go to school after a summers break. I've been called by parents asking me to talk to their child because they are having a horrible day. I've had students 10 years after they left my care come by the school to see if I stilled worked there and to give me a hug. No two days are the same. After 30 years I must love my job because I'm definitely not there for the money. But I can't do it any more. I currently work 3 jobs and I'm worn out. I've had people come to me telling me they are interested in a career like mine. I tell them to choose another path because as rewarding as this job can be, it can be equally as frustrating. I wish the government could see our worth.

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I’m glad others are telling their stories defying the gag orders we have in place. As informal as they are, they’re designed to keep things quiet without actually telling us to keep things quiet. Our employer sweeps more under the rug than the church used to.

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I love the sweet kids I work with. I truly do. It breaks my heart everyday that as a person who advocates for them, some who truly have no one else with busy teachers and falling apart Social work systems. Social workers not showing up for kids after school; reporting abuse with a letter saying sorry doesn’t qualify; packing kids lunches every morning so they don’t feel different because of food insecuirty, washing, brushing and styling kids hair.

I cannot afford this career. We have so little say in intense behavioural programming. I will miss my kids so much. I worry about them and that I cannot afford to work my job.

Teaching kids to regulate themselves, to be calm and feel loved; to be their literal punching bag shielding them from the view of their peers as we have no choose other than to get in between. Slaps in the face or head, catching flipping desks.. then immediately moving onto  another crisis situation. Slipping moments of love and trust in between moments of crisis. I feel guilty taking breaks because the need of behavioural and emotional support is so grand everywhere. Help the kids please! Let us help them! 25k a year is not enough.

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I love my job as an Education Program Assistant.  Without EPA’s, inclusion would not be possible in schools.  We do not sit in class and color all day with children. This job is one of the most dangerous jobs in our sector!  On a daily I’m hit, pinched, kicked, chocked, bit, and scratched.  Some of these students are runners and some have destroyed classrooms causing their peers have to be evacuated from from a room because it’s not safe for them when desks and chairs are being thrown around.

I come home every day with a new bruise, and/or new scratches.  My own children worry about me when I’m at work. They don’t like seeing their mom COVERED in cuts and bruises.  It affects my husband especially, and has led to people questioning if I’m ok at home. I do my best to explain to people it's from my job, that can make a conversation worse.  Who’s going to believe that a child in elementary would do this to a grown adult?!  But I go back as I love working with children. These kids deserve every opportunity and we are there to make that happen!

The public and parents are unaware what it’s like in schools!

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Teachers need IPP materials and LC guidance for each child to make inclusion work for academic success

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Teachers need IPP materials and LC guidance for each child to make inclusion work for academic success

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I'm a newish teacher at high school. I teach sciences. I've been in several different high schools and only one had a collection of science materials grouped by the level of ability for IPP students (high, medium, low abilities). The LC teachers there were able to give guidance as to what level each student was at, what materials would work, and how to assess them.
None of the other schools have done this, so the first week of each semester is me scrambling to figure out what the IPP students are  able to do successfully, while also trying to develop the materials for non-IPP students too.
Sometimes I give work that I think is appropriate and realise that they won't be able to do it unless I sit next to them the whole time - and I don't have time for that.
There's days where I give a colouring page because I have so much to do with the other students and I don't have the time to guide my IPP students through anything more complicated.

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Junior Teacher here. First off I fully support the job action of CUPE employees, especially our EPAs who have such a vital role in providing support to our students with such diverse needs. We're talking about wiping bums all the way to being physically assaulted. Asking for fair compensation is incredibly reasonable considering the daily challenges they experience.

Something I think the public should know more about is just the bureaucracy of the entire system. We have people in high up positions with very little to no experience in education deciding how curriculum should be implemented. The new 7 and 8 curriculums are a wishy washy vague disaster. There is no support from the top down. No resources to help get us started. Just dense textbooks that students are not skilled enough to read. Teachers work a lot of unpaid overtime as it is, but the demands of planning around this mess makes it all the more challenging. The new curriculum is supposed to provide students with agency over their learning, however students are less motivated than ever to even care to have a say in their learning. The gaps existed before COVID but they have been expanded into craters. Math and literacy skills are well below grade level and those that are at grade level skill are in the minority. You can't expect a child to be motivated to inquire about a topic of interest when they can't read/research. Teachers and EPAs are working hard to make the shoe fit/teach these skills and provide word processing tools, but the apathy and and behaviours of students makes this INCREDIBLY challenging. Factor in the loss of preps for covering teachers due to the lack of subs; I'm sure you can visualize the picture I'm painting. The system is on fire and the higher ups just keep dictating how learning should be happening without providing any support to anyone.

Don't be surprised if the government is forced to figure out retention strategies for education workers once they figure out health care. So much of our personal time is sacrificed to provide a meaningful educational experience for our kids while navigating these challenges. Burnout is at an all time high. Some folks in the public will probably say "well enjoy your summer off then". I'm telling those people right now, I will trade you my 2 summer months "off" for more control over my life 10 months out of the year. And to the parents who want to make excuses for their child's behaviour and never hold them accountable, come on in and give teaching a shot if you think you can do better.

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I teach grade 2. I have 26 students. English is an additional language to 18 of them. 10 of them need EAL support, 4 of them have no English at all. Out of the 8 students whose first language is English, 4 are learning center students with high needs, nonverbal ASD, cognitive delay, ADHD/ODD, severe anxiety. I have very minimal support from the EAL teacher because their caseload is massive, so I spend most of my day adapting, translating, explaining and reexplaining, dealing with meltdowns due to frustration….my classroom is falling apart and I can’t do the job I was hired to do. I have 10 different languages spoken in my room, I am constantly flipping between languages on Google translate to provide instructions or basic expectations. I do not have training in EAL and many of these kids are suffering from trauma. I am constantly occupied and unavailable to provide basic support to my students because I need to translate in multiple language all day. I love my students and I would love to have the time to sit with them all day long and provide support but I am only one person and I am not trained for this and constantly feel like I’m failing.

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Schools are suppose to be a place of learning where everyone feels safe. When the adults are threatened, verbally abused, physically attached, hit, punched, puked on, spit on, glasses ripped off their faces, etc.. all in front of students.. what message are we sending the little people? This is how we treat people? Seeing 5 year olds destroy classroom because they aren’t allowed IPad time.. and then parents screaming at the teacher because she has too many rules is nothing short of disgusting. Schools can’t be all things to everyone. Adults are on edge and kids are getting mixed messages. Everyone has the right to education with the proper supports and structures put in place for them. That is not a one size fits all model. It has to look different. Teachers and support staff can’t triage the needs. Education is directly related to our health care system. Both systems failing and nothing is changing. Just more money wasted talking about all the problems. Someone has to step up and make changes.

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It is disheartening to see all of the RCEs mobilizing with a plan to keep CUPE members on strike instead of giving them a living wage. The “generous” raise that the Minister and Superintendents are talking about in the media equates to something like 15-30 cents per hour. Have any of the government negotiators seen the current inflation rate? I don’t blame anyone that has to strike… it is disgusting that NS has some of the highest poverty rates in the country and instead of supporting workers, their employer is putting in this much effort to work against them and to keep them below the poverty line.

What are the contingency plans for P-6 schools that are staying open? Who will clean them? Will these people have criminal record checks? What about the children and families that depend on school transportation? Chances are they are already disadvantaged and we are going to keep them that way if they can’t get to school to join their classmates with higher socio-economic status. What happens when someone breaks a window- no maintenance team to come and fix it- so our young children will be educated amongst shards of glass?

To the politicians reading this: have fun sleeping knowing that you don’t have to feel hunger in your belly because you had enough $ for food this week and knowing you don’t have to feel cold because you can afford to heat your home. Shame on you.

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Students come to wander the halls, hang out in the ‘food court’ (cafeteria), washrooms and occasionally browse in and out of classes. Nothing is being done about it! Teachers are begging admin to institute some rules that we can enforce but nothing happens. Students who do attend class are absolutely addicted to and distracted by cell phones and headphones. Teachers are trying their best to limit these distractions but aside from locking all the phones up, which we aren’t allowed to do, it’s a battle we can’t win. Students are not doing their best learning. Teachers are exhausted and discouraged. We try so hard to have engaging lessons and activities and kids just will not pay attention, will not try the work and then complain they aren’t doing well and say it’s the teachers fault. We are in a crisis and all teachers see it and feel helpless. We desperately need a change!

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The principal at my child’s high school continues to write in her communications to us that vaping and hanging out in the bathrooms continues to be an issue. Why is this happening? What needs to happen to prevent this…posting security at the bathroom door? Suspending kids who are caught? We know that no good comes from hanging out in the bathroom. My kids never use the bathroom at school. They say it’s too scary.

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Marks on IPP reports not always what they seem. 

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Marks on IPP reports not always what they seem. 

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I have been directed to not give the same achievement score for my IPP students from one term to the next . This came from learner Center teachers who were directed by HRCE student services. What that means is if I give an achievement level score of 2 (out of 4) in term one and must go up in term two report card. It can’t be the same. Interesting way to fudge marks for kids with high needs. Makes it look like they are consistently improving but in reality they may not be…and the data…well it will look like no additional supports are needed for learning centres, education psychologists, behavior specialists, etc. etc.

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I have a class of 20. Of those 20, 6 students are on IPP’s (individual program plans that range from grade 1-4. I teach grade 5).

I also have 14 students with Documented Adaptations. These include anything from providing oral assessments, extra time, reduced work load, providing manipulatives/charts, hard copies of notes, seated near the front of the room, use of specialized headphones, glasses, use of a study corral, frequent check ins, break schedules, visual schedules, and so on.

I have 4 students with diagnosed learning disabilities.

I have 5 students with ASD (autism spectrum disorder)

I have 6 students with ADHD.

I have two students who are cognitively delayed.

I have one student who is globally delayed.

I have one student who has Cerbral Palsy, Fetal alcohol syndrome, who is a high choke risk, and a high fall risk, plus also falls into the other categories mentioned above.

Yes, there is obviously overlap with these numbers, but it paints a picture of what the average classroom now looks like.

4 of my students require TA support. 2 of them say they have a  full time TA on paper, and the other two share a TA. So there should be 3 TA’s in my room. I have one TA. She is burning herself at both ends, and we are very tired and feeling like we are failing.

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The number one issue that fosters all our issues is society.

Society made it okay for kids to act up in schools and receive zero discipline. Because someone got angry about why their kid was punished for running, causing minor issues, small amounts of destruction, swearing, etc and suddenly those issues were deemed “not worth fighting over”.

Gone are the days of detention or punishment for “minor” rule breaking - therefore that isn’t even addressed anymore. Sure, you can tell them not to sprint down the halls, knocking other kids over like bowling pins, or not to dig through another kid’s locker, or not to stand on the urinals, or not to curse a blue streak, but it doesn’t matter. It isn’t a “disciplinary” matter anymore. Therefore it’s now considered accepted. Telling them to stop just makes them laugh.

When you say you’ll need to call home, and you’re met with “go ahead, my mom won’t care” you are told all you need to know. Suspensions are vacations, because they’re home on TikTok now instead of being actually punished.

Then there’s the “effort” piece. Somewhere along the line students learned that grades don’t matter, attendance doesn’t matter, and effort doesn’t matter. Why? Because society taught them this. Someone, at some point, kicked up a stink about their child not passing due to this excuse or that excuse, and now they all pass! I have 7 students in grade 6 who can barely read. Two of them cannot spell their own name. One of them cannot add a number +1. They are not students with special needs.

The system is broken, because society is broken. Respect is learned at home. Learning takes place at home in the form of basic life skills. Play a board game! Talk! Cook! Walk! Hold them accountable for their actions, and teach them to learn from their mistakes, rather than make excuses.

Society is killing schools.

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All I can say is after 35 years in the classroom I'm lucky to be out alive with some sanity left. I definitely have PTSD. Seriously. Enjoyed the first 10 years but it all went downhill fast after that. A top-heavy top-down approach is mostly to blame. Societal changes are also part of the equation. It's not education anymore. It's childcare. I could write a book on all that is wrong with the system and how and when it went wrong. Maybe I should. It would probably anger a lot of people. But the truth usually hurts.

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When I started as an EA, the rule was, Two EAs to accompany a student to the toilet for personal care. These were policies in place for both the student and the staff members.
Personal care, has evolved into full showers numerous times a week, with only one staff. Staff are forced to wear wet clothes all day or change while alone with students. EA cutbacks, and staff shortages, have led to this. Safety is no longer the priority, saving money is.

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Violence, overcrowding/large class sizes,  lack of support staff, lack of resources, lack of specialists such as counselors, psychologists, SLPs, lack of training/PD for teachers, range of learning abilities and challenges, lack of appropriate behavioural intervention /reinforcements/consequences, lack of accountability, etc. etc. This is what we are seeing in our school system, and it is leading to such an overall decrease in social-emotional well-being amongst children and staff, that it is terrifying. As a parent of 2 quiet, polite, scholarly kids who love school and just want to learn, I am terrified that they will not get the education experience they deserve, or worse, that they will witness and experience horrible things while at school, where they are supposed to feel safe and supported. it makes me sad to think that if I could afford to send my kids to a private school, I would.. I used to never think that but this year I have. Some major changes need to occur in our public education system now.

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Parents: ask your kids if their lessons were interrupted today. 

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Parents: ask your kids if their lessons were interrupted today. 

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It’s likely your kids won’t bother to tell you their learning was disrupted by their peers because they think it’s normal.

Their school experience has always included that child who hits their TA & screams at the teacher. The silence from young children who witness this in the moment is chilling: they freeze & dare not move or speak, because if they do - they may be the next target.

Ask if they ever had to evacuate a room because another student started trashing it. Or maybe they had to listen to a verbal outburst before being ushered into the hallway in an attempt to drown it out.

Has anyone hit them? Destroyed their property? Made threats?

… then ask them if it happened more than once…

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EA hours are only allocated for behaviours? The education system is reactive, instead of proactive! So many behaviours could be prevented with the proper supports in place.

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In my school, NRHS ( student ) we have bus drivers changing every few weeks, because they have no support and are verbally harrassed by the kids.  Our learning centre staff and EAs are struggling.  We have so few substitutes that some teachers go from class to class because we have nobody to cover.  Teachers were graduated early to be able to sub since it's so desperate.  We need change, and I think i speak for most students that regardless of outcome, you all deserve to be treated with care and respect, with a paycheque to match.
Don't back down, we will support you.

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On a daily basis, I’m told off by students, some days you let it roll off your skin, other days, you just want to cry. I have been punched in the head, and had extremely vulgar comments made to me in front of other students, comments that, outside of school walls would have warranted a police call. Students no longer know right from wrong, and what is acceptable and what is not. Because there is no longer consequences. So if a student gets away with telling a staff off, why not see if they get away with hitting or pushing, and when they do so, they just keep upping the ante. Preparing these youngsters for the real world, is impossible when we are allowing them to live in an alternate universe where they rule the roost. And can act in any manner without recourse. Time to start thinking of how to word that letter of recognition.

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Teachers are told they cannot put students of color on to IPPs even if they need them because of the optics. They need to find a way to just make those kids successful without sufficient supports. Effectively they are pushed to cook the books. I was told multiple times over the last few years that I needed to change the grades of African Nova scotian students to make sure that they passed. This does not do anything for that student it sets them up for failure down the road but it makes the system look better.

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The fact that this page has to be written incognito 🥸 is the foundation of the crumbling education system. Shhh!

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The amount of parents on here complaining that teachers and principals “did nothing” for bullying, violence and special needs are missing the point and part of the problem. WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING. We have lost all power and control. A student’s right to education trumps EVERYTHING. Teachers have no training in special  needs. It’s not that we don’t care, we don’t know what to do and aren’t trained. The board makes lots of promises that we simply can’t provide. 15 years in, I have ZERO training in violence, ASD, ADHD or any other need your child may have. I have a degree in 20th Century Literature! The teaching degree is a joke that doesn’t teach anything about these issues. In fact, they’re not even spoken about. Please try to understand our hands are tied.

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I had a student ask me to perform a sexual act on him. He threatened to 🤬 multiple female students who were told to avoid and ignore him. He has a special need and there’s nothing we can do. I refused to be alone in a room with him, but because we’re so short staffed, he was often alone and I would call the office for support. The parent of this child was adamant that he didn’t mean it, that we weren’t doing enough for him, that we didn’t know his needs and blamed us for his behaviour. We have no help and no support. I had a kid just today tell me to 🤬 off and shut up. I called for support and the principal had to endure her foul language and I’m trying to work with my other students who are asked to ignore her. It’s crazy. Kids are screaming, running through the halls, you ask them “please stop hitting” and they tell you to stay in your room, mind your business. I’m 10 years in and looking for a new job. The thought of 20 more years of kids telling me off, their parents accusing me of not caring or helping and admin not supporting me actually gives me chest pains. I see so many stories here and it’s EVERY SCHOOL. Parents need to contact the media because we have a gag order on us. Please help us. 

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I had a student ask me to perform a sexual act on him. He threatened to 🤬 multiple female students who were told to avoid and ignore him. He has a special need and there’s nothing we can do. I refused to be alone in a room with him, but because we’re so short staffed, he was often alone and I would call the office for support. The parent of this child was adamant that he didn’t mean it, that we weren’t doing enough for him, that we didn’t know his needs and blamed us for his behaviour. We have no help and no support. I had a kid just today tell me to 🤬 off and shut up. I called for support and the principal had to endure her foul language and I’m trying to work with my other students who are asked to ignore her. It’s crazy. Kids are screaming, running through the halls, you ask them “please stop hitting” and they tell you to stay in your room, mind your business. I’m 10 years in and looking for a new job. The thought of 20 more years of kids telling me off, their parents accusing me of not caring or helping and admin not supporting me actually gives me chest pains. I see so many stories here and it’s EVERY SCHOOL. Parents need to contact the media because we have a gag order on us. Please help us. 

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The themes I see reading these posts seem to center around Teacher workload,  the daily violence and bullying. I would add attendance and late students are also an issue. NO consequences. Add to this that often at least 25% of the class (probably higher) copies the answers from others on assignments…and before a class finishes a test there are pictures of it sent to other students. Many no longer know how to do their own work, take pride in what they do or are capable of doing any higher level work. This transfers into post secondary and why so many struggle and drop out of these programs…may even help explain rising numbers of anxiety cases. We are raising a generation where there are lower expectations and no consequences for their actions and we are setting them up for future anxiety and failure. Teachers and others are sounding the alarm but no one is listening. Add to this…because we have so many different academic levels in each class, the curriculum tends to get “too easy” because we just don’t have the time/class composition/ resources to develop so many various lessons for one single class. I am now retired and used to sub…I’ve been in many schools and can say these issues are everywhere. Don’t even get me started on sub pay…a friend is a retired nurse who does casual shifts…she gets paid what others at her level get paid…as do other government workers. Subs need to have the same incentive if they expect people to sub. It’s a tough job…

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We moved in Dec of 2020.  We kept our 2 children in the same school as we moved from one side of our community to the other so the elementary school changed. Sept 2021  we moved our Children into the school district where they live.  They were so badly bullied they would cry daily and beg to stay home (kids who previously liked school) the principal did nothing,  It took my daughter saying she wanted to die and jump off the roof of the school to finally get the permission to get them out of that horrific school back to the school we left.  So we Drive our children out of area to keep them safe(r) it's not all roses, but my kids were not getting beat up daily. Grades 4 & 5  we fought every level of school board. The last straw after 3 months of advocating, one day my Childs arm was super bruised and I told the school board if they didn't move us, I was going to put my beautiful children on the news and let them see what was actually going on.  nothing has changed.   My son was sat next to a known violent child because "he needs to sit next to someone". It's Wild

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We moved in Dec of 2020.  We kept our 2 children in the same school as we moved from one side of our community to the other so the elementary school changed. Sept 2021  we moved our Children into the school district where they live.  They were so badly bullied they would cry daily and beg to stay home (kids who previously liked school) the principal did nothing,  It took my daughter saying she wanted to die and jump off the roof of the school to finally get the permission to get them out of that horrific school back to the school we left.  So we Drive our children out of area to keep them safe(r) it's not all roses, but my kids were not getting beat up daily. Grades 4 & 5  we fought every level of school board. The last straw after 3 months of advocating, one day my Childs arm was super bruised and I told the school board if they didn't move us, I was going to put my beautiful children on the news and let them see what was actually going on.  nothing has changed.   My son was sat next to a known violent child because "he needs to sit next to someone". It's Wild

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Anyone can print this whole Padlet as a PDF…comments and all. Share with your MLA. Share with other parents. Share the link.

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Hope someone prints these statements sand shares with parents of the province… cuz it’s getting messy!!! Parents need to know!

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There is NO discipline in schools. Principals get in trouble when they suspend too much but there are so many behaviours…
HRCE is top heavy with suits who are making all the decisions with no understanding of the state of classrooms right now. All their ‘brilliant’ ideas can’t be put into place when teachers can’t teach. Bye bye suits… cut some fat from the top and pay the people in the schools a living wage. Cut classs sizes. Curriculum is not evolving with students. And a province wide behavior plan is necessary (better that the pretend one we have now that we all read and hope for bit is never put into action)…
I’ve subbed in so many schools in HRCE and it was a rarity to have a day of learning… which is what each and every child deserves!!!

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Having had a learning disability and being in a segregated class, then later integrating into the regular school classroom. Why don't we implement that again. Students needing extra support can get the attention they need, as they need it, learning where they are at and how they learn best, while also being included with other classes during gym, recess, lunch and other school activities. Surely this would be easier to implement than having everyone spread thin, across over flowed classrooms, burning out staff and neglecting students.

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New teachers are drowning. We aren't going to stay if this continues

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New teachers are drowning. We aren't going to stay if this continues

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I started teaching a few years ago (*great timing with the pandemic*). Every single new teacher I know or have talked to is overworked, exhausted, burnt out, frustrated, etc. A change needs to be made or no one is going to stay in this career.

Just a few of the things that anger me:

1) The lack of prep time is INFURIATING. IT IS NOT ENOUGH! Consider Ontario teachers - secondary teachers are given 25%.... 25%!!!!!! I'm lucky if I even get my planning done in the 12.5%, never mind creating materials, marking, contacting parents, etc.  In addition to this, I know so many new and seasoned teachers that are using their sick days to catch up on planning, marking and report cards. This is insane. And on the point about planning, the inclusion plan is NOT WORKING. If you want to include all children in the classroom, there needs to be PREP TIME given to prep for all those different needs and abilities and we need more EA support to make it successful. Not to mention the behaviours that are now occurring in the classroom makes it NOT INCLUSIVE OF THE OTHER STUDENTS in the classroom. Many students with autism, ADHD, etc. cannot focus in a classroom with students that are yelling, throwing things, etc.

2) Very few of us new teachers are given a proper orientation (policies/practices of the school, using PowerSchool/TIENET, etc.). We had a brief "orientation" together that was BS and contained very little practical information. Any other place of work gives you an orientation. You would think the education system would know the importance of educating its teachers.
At this meeting I was told I would receive a mentor from my school and that I would be hearing from them again to check in - neither of those things happened. Not to mention my 1st school did not provide any sort of regular meetings for the team teachers or same-subject teachers to plan and help each other. For the first 3 months I worked 70-80 hour weeks developing all my lessons on my own until I had a breakdown and had to take days off work. I am far from the only new teacher working impossible hours like that starting out... we are struggling.

3) Inservice days are bogged down with so much trivial nonsense. We are treated like we won't use our inservice time effectively if we are left to schedule our own day. Let's just pile on the workload as if we haven't already been working insane overtime hours. We are given so many "ideas & resources to make our teaching better" but no time to actually work them into our course plan, book guest presenters, etc.

4) Subs are paid terribly. Consider the fact that to be a sub you have to have TWO degrees and then you enter a job that if you manage to work every day (which you can't because of storm days) you make less than $35,000 a year with no hope of a raise. (I know that there is the possibility to work or get EI in the summer, but it doesn't change that number enough to make the 2 degrees make sense). I was making that at the front desk at both my office jobs years ago.

5) I'm not sure about all ECs but the one I'm in is set up terribly for people without permanent status. If you want to take the 15 mo maternity leave your days don't roll over? That's BS and downright sexist in how that's being handled. Not to mention teachers in a recurring part-time roll can never own that position?! I also know someone who worked nearly an entire year as a long term sub and that doesn't count as any days!? Ahhh! I just want to scream.

I hope this Padlet is sent to someone that can make a difference. PLEASE MAKE A CHANGE.

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Our school has a set specific of expectations, posted around the school and in each classroom, however, expectations are applied differently depending on the student. When students recognize there are no consequence for their behaviour, anyone want to guess what happens??

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I said it, it’s awful, but true!
Every child, whether diagnosed, not diagnosed, physically disabled, health conditions, cognitive conditions, behavioural or combination of all above… EVERY SINGLE CHILD IS DIFFERENT! They each are individual, a single teacher cannot be expected to teach a full class.
An average class.. say 22 students, maybe
Ten about average
Five on IPP’s.
Two above average
Two with cognitive conditions (ASD/global delay/Down syndrome etc)
Three behavioural

Although these numbers may not be exact,  they are common.

Our schools are breaking from the inside out, because the people that make the rules rarely set foot in them.

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Teachers are not allowed to speak publicly about what is happening in our schools in HRCE. We are threatened with disciplinary action if we do. That's why the anonymity of this forum is important for teachers.

Parents, you don't have to remain anonymous. You are allowed to use your voice. Please use it with teachers and support staff, not against us. I'm so tired of being abused and undermined.

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I was on the verge of losing my life from the stress of being in the classroom. 

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I was on the verge of losing my life from the stress of being in the classroom. 

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I was on sick leave for 3 months and decided I had to leave the job, because my life is more important than the money or benefits. I taught elementary. The kids were fighting all day every day, no matter what we did they would.not.stop. fist fights, biting, scratching, screaming under tables. Parents emailing about their child coming home with bruises amd death threats. This is not ok.
I was waking up every morning in a panic attack because the demands were unending. Never doing enough, never good enough. Blame placed upon teachers for not being "enough" to control a classroom. 7 or 8 of my students had significant needs that went far above and beyond my EPA and i's ability to handle. I gave all I could every day to care for those children and give them the best, but it was never enough. I gave my soul every day and was told "I come in and do my job" like I did the bare minimum.

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There are too many students in classrooms for ONE teacher to handle. There are too many unacceptable behaviours all day every day. So many students don't seem to care about what they do or say because there's no real consequences.

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Time has come to change this inclusion plan in schools. Parents need to be on board as well. Children  have been sent  home as they trashed a room , had escalated behaviors, or even urinate all over the walls in a classroom - only to be sent back to school an hour later and the school has to accept them at the door! Where, they go right back to escalated behavior! Or, better yet, if parents are called at home/work , no one answers the phone or messages and school has to keep them anyway. There is only so much a school is capable of handling when there are 25 plus other children in the same classroom to think of. The inclusion plan needs to change. While I am all for children of all needs to get an education and be around peers , the program needs to change ! Consequences need to be put in place

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As someone who works in the school system, the current inclusion model is NOT working. The demands being put on teachers to deal with behaviours are impossible. How can children learn when there are kids throwing chairs and desks, screaming and violent. They now evacuate classrooms instead of removing children from the room when they are having these outbursts. It is important to be inclusive but without proper support (having enough EAs in the classroom to support those students) it just doesn’t work. It’s frightening for the kids and how are other students supposed to feel safe in those environments? They are not conducive to learning. It’s burning teachers and staff out, creating stress in children and driving people away from the profession. If there were less children in each class, more support and less power given to students with behaviour problems, this could work.

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My teens are attending a rural High School. They have difficulty concentrating during classes and even during exams. Some fellow students talk, yell, curse and don't listen to their teachers during class. Students are permitted to wonder the halls and walk into classes in session, disrupting the students trying to learn.  There are no meaningful consequences.  I have voiced my concerns to the principal and heard nothing but excuses. I had one teacher call me and blame my teen and deny there were any problems in the class. My teen spoke to her after class about not being able to concentrate during her class because of all the noise and disruptions from students. His teacher called me and suggested my teen go to a quiet room instead of dealing with the students who are disrupting the class! Isn't the classroom the place to learn? I suggested sending the ones who can't be quiet to a quiet room. It is easier to shun the quiet students interested in learning than hold the trouble makers accountable.

Washrooms and locker rooms are free-for-alls. Vaping, cannabis use, vandalism and females doing pregnancy tests are commonplace. No consequences equals empowerment. Why are some parents afraid or incapable to set boundaries and not insist and enforce consequences for inappropriate and disrespectful behavior? Parents have to stop turning a blind eye to their children's inappropriate behavior. Why are excuses made for teenagers old enough to get a driver's license but not old enough to be decent and respectful? Wearing a pink shirt doesn't do anything to prevent bullying. The solution isn't awarenes, it's meaningful consequences for the bullies and those who act inappropriately!

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#notdodgeball

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The amount of paper work/ data, along with curriculum and other expecta are becoming ridiculous. I am expected to enter reading data about my students and plan and find resources and attend at least 2 after or before school meetings...there isn't enoight time in the day. There isn't enough support for the students who need it- there is too much going on in most classrooms to meet the needs of all the learners. The government makes all these announcements about new curriculum and being culturally responsive but they do not provide teachers with training or resources to meet the needs. I love teaching kids but I am finding everything else is getting in the way!

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3 years ago, I broke up a fight between 2 students. One sexually harassed the other and so he punched that student in the face,causing a bloody nose. Administration did nothing because "it was their first offence".

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Yes all children have a right to an education, but not at the expense of others.

What I mean is if you have an incredibly disruptive child in a classroom (let’s face it, there are at least four in every classroom) and the teacher is constantly having to track their bad behaviours, reinforce the good ones, fill out charts and graphs, constantly redirect them and use special timers and breaks and weighted vests all on their own because EPAs are scarcely assigned… what does that teacher have left to give to the other 20 students in the classroom? Or if the student uses violent language or acts violently - the other children are experiencing TRAUMA. Things that maybe their own families have worked so hard to protect them from up until school entry… but now it is the norm to see it in a classroom.

Yes you can call admin but rarely is there followthrough. The child gets a nice little relational approach chat, gets a few minutes of a break, sometimes a new fidget or a treat and then gets put back in the same classroom as if nothing happened. And guess what- the cycle starts over again.

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Students wait year for assessments/diagnosis when identified early on as needing support.  

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Students wait year for assessments/diagnosis when identified early on as needing support.  

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Why does it take so long for students who are flagged for behaviour/autism/learning disabilities etc to get seen and for support to be in place? Parents don’t realize that so many kids start school with undiagnosed issues that the teachers see but don’t get any support for them as they have no official diagnosis. This takes so much time - time where the student falls further behind and doesn’t get the supports they need in a timely fashion. The ones who get the attention first are the extreme behaviours who the schools are not equips to deal with.

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Home and schools used to be a team. This is not always the case any longer. Parents want to explain away behaviors. Schools are allowing behaviors to occur, with no consequences. In many schools, inappropriate behaviors have now become normalized. Students are not pushed to do their best work. Parents no longer work at home with their kids. Everyone is tired. Everyone in their hamster wheels, going no where. Sad.

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A diverse learners masters is required to teach in any elementary classroom today. Since I don’t have a diverse learners masters, I’m forced to take my questions and needs to TST where that is set up to ask me what I’m doing and to put more on my shoulders by asking “what are you doing to support the needs of every student in your class.”

Students who are in school for academic growth are the ones who are suffering all day. Teachers are spread so thin that the kids who are kind, caring, hard working and quiet are getting the short end of the stick.

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I can name at least 5 students that will be in the news someday for violent acts. They have been to TST and SPT several times and no matter what supports are put in place, nothing changes in the long run.

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Lots of supports for students, not staff

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Lots of supports for students, not staff

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We accommodate upside down and backwards to include students at school- yet if someone on staff asks for help, or support or a reasonable accommodation, they are strong armed by HR. Please, send me another “self-care” newsletter… that will fix it. 🤦‍♀️

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“Inclusion without proper resources is nothing short of child abandonment.”
(Quote from a well-known disability advocate.)
Is someone calling DCS on the government for virtually abandoning of thousands of our young learners with special needs in this province???

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Yes, we had one student whose behaviour injured 7 different EPAs and sent them to the Emergency Room. One needed a skin graft, another surgery, and most ended up on Worker's Comp. This student absolutely has a right to an education, and a high quality, public education at that. But at what point did staff give up their right to safe working conditions? It just doesn't seem right.

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Things that have happened in my classroom during the last few years - having 1 epa for  multiple students with behavior needs overwhelming the epa.  Allocation taken from student with high functioning autism for the behaviors. (This happened A LOT.  If you think your child is getting support it may not be what you think)  - swearing/name calling to myself and toward other students - physical violence/throwing classroom objects/chairs -verbal abuse from parents - students that are flight risks with no epa support that take off and need to be found - upset student trashing my classroom by taking everything off of the shelves/desk - going to work sick because it is so hard to find a sub and often way more work when you’re already sick to plan for one and explain all of the needs of your students. - every year I have students that have experienced some kind of trauma so on top of everything else teachers need to be compassionate counselors without training - students who are being mistreated at home and need to be removed - students who are coming to school not fed and/or smelling heavily of marijuana
Oh and teaching the curriculum on top of everything else, some years being responsible for two grades without the resources you need to do your job inputting data our RCE expects us to collect.  It’s a lot. It would help if the class sizes were smaller. If you’re a primary teacher that could be 22 4/5 year olds to one teacher in September. How many adults out there would be comfortable with that? The ratio for pre primary is 1:8 but over the summer they’re suddenly ready for 1:22.

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It’s heartbreaking. I have over 20 years experience and I’m not sure what to do anymore. I have worked with and seen so many students who don’t get the support they need. Not enough resources, not enough people, (EPAs, resource teachers, EAL teachers, guidance councelors, etc) far too many students in a class to get the one on one time they need, the list goes on and on. The whole system is broken and getting worse all the time. Teachers are tired, frustrated and defeated. So are all of the specialists who make a school run effectively. The quality of your child’s education is suffering more than you can imagine despite the best efforts of many dedicated and hard working professionals. We are sorry. We got into this profession because we love children. We love learning. We love to see the progress our kids make from month to month and year to year. But we are not able to meet our own high expectations. We are not able to meet your expectations for us. Our system is broken, and when we tell our employers, little ever changes. Parents, you need to know what school is like, and you need to demand better.

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Career in education no longer an option 

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Career in education no longer an option 

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I loved teaching and working with young people. But, I cannot make ends meet on a substitute pay — it’s not a living wage. And most teachers need to put in several years of substituting and lack of stability to even get a full time job.

Did you know the max a sub could make in NS if they worked every single day (impossible in reality)? The answer is 38k gross. Many great educators are turning to other professions because of this, among many other reasons.

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From a teacher’s perspective: high school students are carrying knives.
From a parent’s perspective: jr. high school students are carrying knives.
They know who (and it’s not a small number), but they can’t tell for fear of retribution.

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The violence in NS schools is so well known that my family shopped around to avoid certain districts. That still didn’t prevent violence we encountered throughout our education. School staff prefers to rug sweep the issues rather than allowing any meaningful consequences or change.

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The incidents of violence are so hidden it's scary. The hardest part is those who are support staff in the schools are afraid to report, because they will be accused of rocking the boat or not being a team player. IN NS it's the LAW to report violent incidents in a school or any workplace! Yet when a support staff member tries to report, some get told "Oh we're working on it" or "What else do you want us to do?" Uuuhm I don't know... You're the one who makes more than $100k/yr, you figure it out! Elementary students with weapons. Jr high students threatening to physically harm the EPAs or teaching staff they don't like. High school students threatening the entire student population. No we are no okay!

Support staff don't have access to the tienet system where incidents are tracked. We are not told who the violent students are in the building, despite interacting with them everyday. We are mentally, emotionally & physically drained. Our pay sucks, many are leaving or off on long term sick time, leaving those of us still in, with bigger caseloads. It's like we're the cockroaches of the education system... everyone wants to squish us, but some how we just keep going! Most of us, have great teaching colleagues, who support us. Some have great admin teams, who are listening, but their hands are tied! And some... Well there are some, that just don't have any other options left.

We're not okay and we haven't been for a while now :(

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My son could be the poster child of how "inclusive" education fails kids. He was treated badly right from Primary when he exhibited negative behaviour. We paid for a diagnosis which turned out to be gifted/ADHD, the psychologist came to the school TWICE in person to tell them how they need to support him and they did nothing but punish him and call me all the time for help.

What we didn't know was that he was actually autistic this whole time (just diagnosed at age 14 last summer) and when he was having an anxiety attack and acting out, he was sent to the principal office (at ages 6 and 7). We waited months and months, sometimes  years for psych ed assessments, for behavioural IPP's (they refused to give him an academic IPP). He received zero support in school and was bullied and treated cruelly by students and staff.

Fast forward to junior high and he was so traumatized by how he was treated, he can't go to school now. They questioned all his diagnoses, they questioned my parenting...they said until he's officially diagnoses with ASD they can't support him. So he spent grades 7 and 8 in the VP's office, who was like a drill sargent who had zero empathy or kindness. He said he felt like he was in jail while at school.

His anxiety came out in lots of stimming that he couldn't help, but kids would tease him and teachers punished him. When he couldn't stim safely, he shut down and put his head on the desk, so he didn't learn for two years. He wouldn't pick up a pencil, he was frozen with fear. So he was sent to the office. every day. He would be trapped in a room without windows and told to do his work. Further dysregulation and stress response and he would lash out by screaming in the hallways and calling them names.

So they would just start suspending him. then they threaten to call the cops. I got called every single day. I spent years fighting with them, challenging them, asking why they treated him this way, crying to them. they didn't care. They saw him as a problem. He started running away from school, then threating to kill himself and kill me. As soon as we got the ASD diagnosis, we pulled him out of school and all the admin and teachers emailed me back saying "good luck!" like, no accountability. (oh and funny enough, the jerk VP didn't return to the school this year)

We sent him to Bridgeway where he spent the first month in support, then starting running away. More violent threats at home, he started therapy and he was diagnosed with school related trauma/PTSD/autistic burnout. He has been home with me since October. His entire grade 9 year wasted and I don't know if he will ever go back to school. Through therapy and Bridgeway, we have been working for months on a plan to try to get him back to school, but he has not felt safe yet.

There were countless times over the years, with so many teachers and admin where I would attempt to communicate his needs and 99% of the time they had no clue how to deal with special needs kids. They didn't know what "flight, fight or freeze" was. They don't know what anxiety looks like. All they cared about was that his writing was sloppy. They took away his joy of learning. He read books all day, now he can't even pick up a book. I tried to get him to learn at home and he can't handle any type of learning. He's just so traumatized.

This is so hard on us parents. There are many days when I want to fight, and hold someone accountable for what they did to my bright child, but I am burnt out myself.

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We never have enough subs anymore. There’s always coverage and sometimes even combining classes. People are out a lot more due to work stress and there are fewer substitutes taking jobs.

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We need to be able to discuss inclusion. All children are wanted and valued at school but we do not have the resources some children need and everyone is spread so thin. Im sure that sometimes it sounds like violence is blamed on students with special needs. Often, students are violent because they are so stressed and so upset and no one can help them. Being in a crowded room when you don't understand what is going on and no one understands you. Of course you would scream or throw things or hit. Inclusion, as we are doing it in schools, is not working.

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There is a strong likelihood that Child & Youth Care Practitioners, Community Outreach Workers, Pre-primary ECE's, Library Support Specialists, EPA's, & student Support workers in HRM will be on strike as of April 21st.
Those in the higher wage bracket could see a livable wage increase, but many in the lower salary bracket will see peanuts from government. They are not offering a living wage, and many could still fall under the $30,000 salary bracket.
The burden on teachers and other children in the school because of government selfishness will be long lasting.

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There was a video my daughter showed me of a few girls lighting paper towel on fire in the bathroom and throwing it in the toilet and how the principal is constantly having to go into the girls bathroom to kick girls out for gathering in their to vape… it’s a Junior High.

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Due to recent teacher cutbacks, there is NO ONE on duty monitoring the hallways and bathrooms in high school.  Students have the run of the place.  Due to recent teacher cutbacks, there is NO time to meet with other teachers, specialists or admin about the needs of particular students.  Everyone is working in isolation trying to get by.  Kids are suffering.  

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Due to recent teacher cutbacks, there is NO ONE on duty monitoring the hallways and bathrooms in high school.  Students have the run of the place.  Due to recent teacher cutbacks, there is NO time to meet with other teachers, specialists or admin about the needs of particular students.  Everyone is working in isolation trying to get by.  Kids are suffering.  

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Administrators just received a 15 % raise.  Since they now have their own union, much easier to have them tow the line the Dept wants for them to abide by. In the last few years it has been more about making the dept look good and sweeping things under the rug, for their own professional benefits.  The teachers who are the real front line workers do not have near the support.  If we do speak up, the fear is that we will be given a very complicated teaching assignment, which is the admin’s way of having teachers choose to switch schools so they no longer have dissenting voices.  Teachers are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  

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Administrators just received a 15 % raise.  Since they now have their own union, much easier to have them tow the line the Dept wants for them to abide by. In the last few years it has been more about making the dept look good and sweeping things under the rug, for their own professional benefits.  The teachers who are the real front line workers do not have near the support.  If we do speak up, the fear is that we will be given a very complicated teaching assignment, which is the admin’s way of having teachers choose to switch schools so they no longer have dissenting voices.  Teachers are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  

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Many Violent high school students that must return to school because it’s part of their probation.  They are on probation as a result of major assaults that they committed while at the same school.  

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Many Violent high school students that must return to school because it’s part of their probation.  They are on probation as a result of major assaults that they committed while at the same school.  

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My daughter endured being harassed physically and sexually by a fellow classmate and they refuse to do Anything about it even after filing 2 police reports about it and it was the same boy every time. He is still in her class to this day and she is told to “just ignore him” “pretend he isn’t there” cause they don’t want to take opportunities away from him

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There is a severe shortage of substitute teachers in the SSRCE. I have been teaching since 2009 and this is the first year I have seen signs that say 'classes cancelled' on the doors of classrooms. This means fewer staff in the building to monitor the students. The staff who are there are dealing with more students with idle time and large common areas with no supervision (remember they removed the libraries as well as librarians a few years back?). Recipe for shinanigans.

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Kids need help, staff needs help. The amount of children with mental health issues, abuse or unstable environments at home, not enough food, lack of support/help/resources, etc.

Staff (teachers, EPAs, ECEs, etc.) are overworked and burnt out. They are not able to educate the children because they are 'putting out fires' all day. Trying to help the students with the issues I mentioned above and do what is expected of them to meet teaching outcomes. There is only so much they can do and they are drowning. I've seen educators cry. I've heard of educators leave one day and not be able to come back due to stress.

Staff are being spit on, threatened, hit, kicked and more. Children who are doing these things need help, but often the schools can only do so much - especially if parents are not on board or involved.

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A teacher's post on inclusion seems to be removed. Yet many issues we have revolve around the inept implementation of inclusion.

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My child's closest friend was pushed down the stairs by a group of bullies that have been tormenting him for years. Upon reporting this to school administration they noted that the camera in the stairwell was not functional (the had been a work order in for over a year) and they had no evidence to push forward on this (despite years of torment, witness and damage to the child). The principal chose not to act.

However, even if the principle did deem it worthy of his time there's little than can be done. A suspension is ineffective, transfering the bullies never seems to be considered (it's always up to the victims to leave the situation, rarely the perpetrators) and the police generally refrain from getting involved because they know that there's really nothing that they can do, nor any real consequences.

Decision makers, law makers and parents need to step up. This is on all of them. You can't blame a system if you design it to be ineffective, consequence free and subject to the whims of politics.

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Teachers are not able to speak the truth of what is going on in their classrooms due to veiled threats about violating privacy laws.  Politicians then use said silence to claim nothing is happening.   

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Teachers are not able to speak the truth of what is going on in their classrooms due to veiled threats about violating privacy laws.  Politicians then use said silence to claim nothing is happening.   

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« Class caps » are a game that most parent don’t realize is being played. Government officials claim there are caps to humour voters, but these caps are only in effect for a very short period of time and classes often end up over the capacity before mid October.

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Lots of books by Black authors are being banned or ‘delisted’ and nobody is talking about it. Teachers aren’t even told until they go looking for class sets and they’re already gone to the dumpster.

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Unless a kid has serious behaviour issues they won’t get an EPA in Halifax. Kids that need academic support are on their own with a teacher that has a class way over capacity.

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Recently a boy in my school pulled out a pocket knife and held the blade to the neck of a girl. When a third student tried to intervene he threatened him with the knife as well. These were all grade 8's.

There were no consequences, the principal didn't even call home. And we ouldn't call as teachers because it took place during lunch away from our classrooms, so none of us were directly involved.

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My son is constantly bullied at his school. He’s told to tell a teacher or the principal but they don’t do anything. Even when he has a witness, it’s not reliable because it’s a friend. They talk to the other kids but then that makes it worse. My son got a concussion last year from these kids. We can’t homeschool and he’s already moved schools once. We can’t afford private. I have no idea how to help him. We tell him to punch back but he’s worried about repercussions (even though we’ve told him he won’t get any from home, and if he’s suspended well buy him ice cream)

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I have an immense amount of trauma in my classroom, most kids are going through a violent parental separation and class frequently turns into mental health activities because of the anxiety levels from students. I also have a student in my class who this year has become violent, he spits as a way to communicate anger, and he has grown enough to frequently overpower his EA. I have had to split it up multiple times, and the student has been violent towards me and left bruises and cuts all over me from biting, punching, clawing, and more. He kicks me in the groin when he gets a chance, I evacuate my class often, and he has left bruises that take up my entire arm and turn a scary shade if purple. My support team has simply told me I don't have much of a reason to be upset and that I wasn't following procedure by breaking up the violence. I have also been encouraged to wear protective equipment and have a broken door, computer, and shelf in my classroom from just the last few weeks. My elementary class has told me they are traumatized by this, and parents have even told me their kids no longer want to come in because of the trauma. I can't sleep on weekends and am seeing counseling because of the events and the only proper procedure for all of this currently is to evacuate my class as many times as necessary. There are also students in my class who shut down and refuse to acknowledge anyone for many hours per day including while trying to evacuate.

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I have been an EA in the public school system for over 20 years. I am done, like so done. What's happening in our schools is so wrong. No accountability, no consequences and very low academic expectations. We are failing our students and not by choice. The " people" running the show are inept and have no idea what they are doing. Having an attendance policy is effective and makes the students accountable, especially in high school. With an attendance policy they can't come to school and hang out in the bathrooms causing trouble. You miss a certain amount of class time you don't get to continue. That's how the real world works and that's how schools should work. Parents should walk down a hall in a high school and look into any class. They will see a teacher trying to teach while every student is looking at their phone with their earbuds in. There are no cellphone policies because some parents think it's their kids right to have their phone and the parents that yell the loudest get their way. It's bad, seriously bad to the point that I will homeschool my grandchildren to ensure they get a proper education and be respectful members of society. Many parents have no idea what's happening or not happening in their kids classrooms. Are they getting the education they have a right to? No they certainly are not!

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As a teacher and a parent, it scares me everyday what my child is witness to. I have had violent  6 year olds where I’ve had to evacuate my classroom. Chairs thrown, scissors, punching, hitting, etc.  The sad part … kids are becoming desensitized to it.  We are unable to do our jobs due to behavior everyday. If we are lucky to have an EA it’s helpful but there are never enough. We have students who don’t qualify because they aren’t a behavior problem or have medical needs.  Our system is a mess. We need clear boundaries for students and parents need to stop blaming others for their children’s behavior.  We need admin and FOSS to support teachers. I think they need to get back into classrooms and actually teach to see the realities of everyday. :(
I don’t know if I’ll make it 7 more years.

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There are several people in leadership positions at the school board refusing to get on board with the science of reading, despite seeing everything that has happened with the Right to Read human rights case in Ontario. The three-cueing system, reading recovery, early literacy support and guided reading practices are actually harmful to students and hold them in cycles of poverty and marginalization. These “leaders” need to follow what neuroscience and evidence-based research has shown us or they need to be moved to less influential positions ASAP.

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Parents have no idea what goes on at school, why, because HRCE has us on gag orders that we can’t say what’s happening to our students, staff our children. The system is so broken, special needs children aren’t getting their needs met, schools are so understaffed with EPAs for support and behaviour has escalated so much over the years, EPAs are now having to have way more kids being allocated to them and how on earth can kids in classrooms learn if they are constantly interrupted by classroom behaviours of throwing chairs, screaming and constant interruptions to their learning. Teachers well I’m not sure why anyone would go into this profession now it’s a shame because they really care for their students, the burnout is taking over and all school staffing and everyone is effected. The government doesn’t care, HRCE sweeps everything away and pretends everything is fine, PARENTS IT IS NOT!!!