Letter to all Members of Québec's National Assembly
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESS Newswire / April 23, 2025 / On behalf of the 7,500 teachers represented by the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT), we are speaking out publicly today to inform you of our deep indignation at the government's most recent legislation for education. The plethora of recently tabled bills constitute direct attacks on the teaching profession. Once again, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has chosen to target teachers instead of addressing the real problems that exist in our education system.
The most recent of these bills, Bill 94, An Act to, in particular, reinforce laicity in the education network and to amend various legislative provisions, has been tabled as the response to the unacceptable events that took place at École primaire Bedford. However, rather than addressing this specific, and highly exceptional, situation alone and on its own merits, Minister of Education Bernard Drainville has chosen this opportunity to sneak in some important changes that have nothing to do with laicity but that will have major impacts for the professional autonomy and workload of teachers.
Hidden behind the pretence of addressing the issues that existed in one school, issues that could have been dealt with effectively with tools that already exist, the Minister has, among other things, introduced a requirement for all teachers to submit annual instructional planning to the principal, completely ignoring the fact that planning evolves for various reasons. He has also added a requirement for principals to carry out compulsory annual evaluations of all teachers using the "guide of good practices" established by the Minister himself, which disregards the expertise and role of the teacher as an educational expert. Further, these individual evaluations will measure the teacher's contribution to the educational project of the school, thereby making teachers individually responsible for the project, over which they have little to no individual control, and which is supposed to be a broad responsibility shared by the entire school community.
In addition to placing unfair expectations on teachers, these new requirements will add another mountain of bureaucracy for teachers and principals alike. They are unnecessary, as principals already can require that a teacher submit instructional planning, and the possibility to evaluate is already provided for in legislation and employment contracts. In the current context of cutbacks and labour shortages, we seriously question this poor use of time and resources when there are so many urgent needs elsewhere. It will add meaningless work to teachers and principals and will do nothing to prevent another situation such as the one that existed at Bedford.
This particular attack on teachers by the CAQ is part of a series of equally deplorable recent decisions. For example, Bill 47 imposed a restrictive code of ethics on all Québec's schools and centres, but did not take into account the consultation process stipulated in the teachers' collective agreement. In addition, Bill 89, which we consider to be abusive and unconstitutional, is designed to limit the right for teachers to strike and, as you have no doubt heard, has triggered strong reactions from all of Québec's union organizations. If adopted, this bill would weaken one of the very few tools available to Québec's teachers to defend and improve their working conditions and their students' learning conditions.
With this succession of bills, the CAQ government is once again targeting teachers. It is attacking the professional autonomy of teachers and risks worsening the teacher shortage in order to score political points with part of its base. The government should be supporting teachers and lessening their workload, not trampling on their rights and adding another layer of restrictive and unnecessary bureaucratic measures.
It is time to stop targeting teachers and focus on student success instead!
Steven Le Sueur
President
Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT)
CONTACT:
Julie Montpetit, QPAT Communications Advisor
514 249; -9653 / julie_montpetit@qpat-apeq.qc.ca
SOURCE: Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
