If The Ontario HRC Won't Get You the Ontario College of Teachers Might
My wife was a teacher in the Ontario school system for many years, and she still gets the publication of the Ontario College of Teachers every month, called "professionally speaking". It's cool to use lower case in your title.
They have their own Discipline Committee, a 3 member panel, kind of like a Tribunal to "conduct public hearings into cases of alleged incompetence or professional misconduct."
It says in the magazine that "If found guilty of professional misconduct or incompetence, a member's certificate may be revoked, suspended or limited. In cases of professional misconduct only, the committee may also reprimand, admonish, or counsel the member, impose a fine, publish its order in Professionally Speaking or order the member to pay costs."
Have any of you ever come across a really incompetent teacher that you wanted to either kick their rosy red ??? across the street, or do something? Well, maybe you can contact the OCT about them. Go to their web site at oct.ca and see if you can. I don't know. You can try emailing them at info@oct.ca.
On the other hand, you all know a teacher who busts his or her hump to make learning fun and good for the kids. Maybe you could contact them about him or her too. Hopefully, you'll send more good news stories than bad news stories.
However, that is not my point. Like any well meaning tribunal with more power and interest in political correctness than makes sense to thinking people, they carry on with their task. They unfortunately have to adjudicate some pretty egregious behaviour, but not always.
Here is a case in point, and fortunately for the teacher involved, his name was left out of the report in the magazine. The man in question had been a teacher for 29 years. The good news for him is that after this nonsense, he is probably close to the retirement 85 factor (you can retire as a teacher in Ontario when your age and years of teaching total 85).
He coaches sports and committed the following very serious offences (not in my opinion):
1) brushed his foot against the buttocks of a girl during a basketball practice, probably to get her to go where he wanted her to.
2) tousled a young boy's hair during a baseball game
3) put his hand on the shoulder of a female student while discussing a detention with her.
and 4) touched the back of a young girl during a dance practice to place her on her mark.
He was reprimanded, and required to take a course on appropriate boundaries and boundary violations.
In 29 years of exemplary conduct, this is what they zapped this poor guy for, basically for caring about the kids, and trying to reach them.
If Barbara Hall had gotten this at the Ontario HRC, she could have spent a lot of tax dollars fixing this guy's little red wagon. If she gets wind of it now, she will probably try to set up a mechanism that allows her to Appeal OCT tribunal decisions to the OHRC, so she can get her pound of flesh out of them. Actually, I see a new special project for Barb's Boys coming here. Better zip it.
This story is one of many where the Ontario College of Teachers and our court system has really screwed up badly!!!An investigator for the Ontario College of Teachers admitted in criminal court he did not report a repeat sex offender to the police becuase the guy had gotten married. In another case one admiistrator who was charged and admitted to throwing dog dirt at a child was not even sent to dicipoline at the College. Remeber the teacher on CTV that opposed the poilicy of letting sex offenders back into teaching... You may not know the College of Teachers does not have to follow the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They don't even have to provide a fair hearing. Their legal representatives can say anything what so ever about a teacher without even any substance just that it might be true... You heard the world is flat right! ... If the teacher does not like what they have decided the teacher can appeal at the cost of $30,000. Can any one in the world imagine what it is like to speak up for sexually violated children and then be punished with a $1,000 fine and suspended for 2 years. A total of $181,000 in penalty. And it is all legal in Ontario eh!
ReplyDeleteHere is the story and it is all public but only the penalty will ever be reported by the Ontario College of Teachers...Be sure to read the letter from one of the most respected citizens in Canada (Romeo Dallaire the guy that blew the whistle on mass murder in Afdrica) )
The First Independently Elected / Non Union Endorsed Candidate to Sit On
Council
http://www.oct.ca/publications/professionally_speaking/june_2002/blue9.asp
Teachers get licenses back despite sexual abuse
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061101/whistleblower_teachers_061115/20061115/
Canadians for Accountability
http://canadians4accountability.org/cases/cases-e.html#jb
College of Teachers needs to step back and review its proceedings in the
James Black Case
http://tomorrowstrust.ca/?p=4615
Romeo Dallaire throws support behind Jim Black and his dispute with the
College of Teachers
http://tomorrowstrust.ca/?p=7202
$181,000 in penalty and lost income.
The Discipline Panel repeatedly refused to consider Charter of Rights in
their deliberation because they have the right to ignore Canada's Charter of
Rights and Freedoms. The Panel refused to consider the Letter to the Ontario
College of Teachers from the Canadians For Accountability in their
deliberation of penalty because they could ignore it and did. The only
recourse available to any teacher and in particular those not supported by
their Teachers' Union in the province of Ontario is a Judicial Review, at
the estimated cost of $30,000.
http://www.oct.ca/PublicRegister/memberDetails.aspx?memberID=238839