TORONTO – The Ontario government is appealing a lower court ruling that found its mandatory math test for new teachers to be unconstitutional on grounds of discrimination.
The Ontario Divisional Court, a division of the Superior Court, struck down this math proficiency test for new teachers last month.
The court concluded that this test violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in terms of equality, because this uniform test has a disproportionate impact on racialized teachers. The Court pointed out that there were significant disparities, depending on ethnic origin, in the success rates of the uniform examination.
But the government argues the court erred in law in that decision, including using too low a threshold to determine discrimination, given that the uniform test has only been administered once so far.
The government is now asking the Ontario Court of Appeal to review the trial decision.
The skills test was introduced by Doug Ford’s government as part of an effort to improve the results of Ontario students on ministry math exams.
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