Government Study Justifies OECTA's Fair Hiring Policy

TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2014 /CNW/ - Today, the Ministry of Education released a study of Regulation 274 demonstrating the value of OECTA's fair-hiring policy, which was negotiated in July 2012, in response to teacher hiring-processes based on nepotism and unfair hiring that reigned in Ontario's publicly funded education system.

Among its findings, the study identified pre-existing deficiencies in the system, including "the absence of evaluation of daily occasional teachers, the failure to post assignments, the selective use of screening criteria, untimely and limited feedback to unsuccessful applicants, and reluctance to disclose information that would enable union representatives to carry out their responsibilities to their members under the Ontario Labour Relations Act."

The study also found that "there was general acknowledgement that fairness and transparency in hiring were desirable" and that "many (maybe most) boards have not previously seen an orderly path to permanent teaching with occasional teaching as the normal or primary point of entry to the profession."

"Regulation 274 has identified an extremely good balance of transparency and opportunity, and when applied in its fullest, it is not detrimental to the board's opportunities to meet the needs of students," says OECTA President James Ryan. The study emphasizes the need to continue disclosing information to inform the individual applicant and that allows all parties to verify that this process is meeting the transparency that was intended under Regulation 274.

"This is a great example of a progressive union working to improve the quality of education. The fair-hiring policy has always been about establishing a fair and transparent process that would give all qualified, unemployed teachers an opportunity to access meaningful work. OECTA is proud of the accomplishments of the fair-hiring policy and Ontario's commitment to removing barriers that may impede fair-hiring practices," says James Ryan.

OECTA represents the more than 45,000 professional women and men who teach all grades in publicly funded English Catholic schools in Ontario.

SOURCE: Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association

Carley Desjardins, Communications Department
416-925-2493 ext. 507, [email protected]