Bill 23 aims, according to the Minister of Education, to “improve the system so that education improves”. This reform pursues the implementation of results-based management in education based primarily on students’ academic results. Several studies have shown the reverses of this mode of management, in particular on the workload of directors and deputy directors of educational establishments and their retention in office.
The bill provides for the implementation of new mechanisms (“system for filing and communicating information” and “modes of control, supervision or evaluation” of the continuing education obligations of teaching staff) which risk further burdening the administrative task of management staff (collection, analysis, transmission of data), to the detriment of pedagogical responsibilities. This situation is worrying, while in Quebec, 15% of them are thinking of leaving their job and 12% plan to look for another job during the year due, in particular, to difficult working conditions (GRIDE, 2023) .
Bill 23 will concentrate more decision-making power in the hands of the Minister of Education, while other people will be held accountable to him. It will be included in the Education Act: 1) that school principals and vice-principals will be appointed by the general management of their school service center (CSS), itself appointed by the government on the recommendation of the minister , 2) that the directions will be required to exercise “any other function” determined by the general direction, even though, at the top of the hierarchy, the Minister of Education will have the power to cancel any decision of the CSS that does not would not be consistent with the targets, objectives, orientations and directives that it has established.
The bill risks increasing the proportion of management teams reporting receiving too many requests from the Ministry of Education (from 61% in 2019 to 66% in 2023) and being concerned about the increase in powers granted to the Minister during the previous reform in 2020 (57%) (GRIDE, 2023).
The Minister will also have the right to look at the priority subjects that will benefit from the work of the new National Institute of Excellence in Education, in consultation with “participants in the school system”. We do not know the weight of the minister in the choice of priorities and who will be consulted. Combined with the elimination of checks and balances in education, the overrepresentation of academics who have spoken publicly in favor of the bill at public consultations and hearings on the bill raises concerns about the state of school democracy.
The concentration of powers goes against the grain of research that has shown that improving the functioning of schools depends, to a large extent, on the ability of management to implement a community where members can influence decision-making. Sustainable change and transformation come from expert people on the ground.
By implying that the knowledge needed to improve the education system emanates from people far removed from the school environment, the Minister accentuates the already glaring lack of recognition and trust in school personnel and management.
By focusing on the universalization of certain practices, without contextualizing them to the various school realities, the bill undermines their autonomy, their free will and their professional judgment. It further limits their ability to respond, in a reactive, precise and innovative manner, to the needs of their community and of all students in order to ensure the quality of educational services.
In the current state of the education system, is this really the reform that we need, and that school principals need, for education in Quebec to improve?
* Also signed this letter:
Jean Bernatchez, Full Professor, University of Quebec at Rimouski
Olivier Lemieux, assistant professor, University of Quebec at Rimouski
Caroline Letor, Associate Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Karyne Gamelin, assistant professor, University of Sherbrooke
Emmanuel Poirel, Associate Professor, University of Montreal
André Villeneuve, regular professor, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières
Luc Jourdenais, lecturer, University of Montreal, former high school director
David D’Arrisso, Associate Professor, University of Montreal
Suzanne Guillemette, full professor, University of Sherbrooke
Mélissa Villella, Assistant Professor and Director of the DESS in Educational Institution Management, University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Catherine Larouche, full professor, University of Quebec at Chicoutimi
Roula Hadchiti, Assistant Professor, University of Quebec in Outaouais
Denise Bergeron, teaching professor, University of Quebec in Montreal
Lise-Anne St-Vincent, full professor, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières
Jocelyne Chevrier, Associate Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Lyne Martel, assistant professor, University of Montreal
Maryse Potvin, full professor, University of Quebec in Montreal
Michel Boyer, Associate Full Professor, University of Sherbrooke
Anastasie Amboulé Abath, Professor, University of Quebec at Chicoutimi
Françoise Armand, full professor, University of Montreal
Pierre Toussaint, associate professor, University of Quebec in Montreal
Emmanuelle Doré, assistant professor, University of Sherbrooke
Emmanuel Martin-Jean, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières