Ontario Alliance Of Black School Educators Applauds Education Ministry’s Review Of Peel School Board

The following letter, written by the Ontario Alliance Of Black School Educators, was addressed, and sent to Ontario’s Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, today (April 27, 2020). It was copied to Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and Ontario Premier, Doug Ford.

Dear Minister Stephen Lecce:
The purpose of this letter is to share our response to the Ministry’s Review of the Peel District School Board (PDSB), which, once again, brings to the forefront the issues of systemic discrimination, specifically anti-Black racism, inequitable hiring and promotion practices, board leadership, and governance.

We applaud the Ministry for conducting the Review and recognize the efforts of the Review Team. The Review addresses what is within the Ministry’s mandate and provides a road map for the Peel District School Board to establish strong accountability measures, restore good governance, and model equity-focused leadership, with intent towards eradicating anti-Black racism and inequities, throughout the Peel Board.

The purpose of the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE) is: to promote and facilitate the education of all students, with a particular focus on African-Canadian students; to establish a coalition of African-Canadian educators, administrators and others, directly or indirectly, involved in the educational process; to create a forum for the exchange of ideas and strategies to improve educational opportunities for African-Canadian students and educators; to identify and develop African-Canadian professionals, who will assume leadership positions in education; and to influence public policy, concerning the education of African-Canadian people.

The report verifies and validates the concerns of the PDSB community members. Anti-Black Racism is pervasive and the opportunity to address this issue is timely.

ONABSE is committed to supporting the Peel Association of African Canadian Educators (PAACE), the PDSB’s Anti-Black Racism Working Group (ABRWG), PDSB educators, parents, community groups and other stakeholders, to implement the Ministry’s recommendations that would best serve the Black community.

As a provincial organization, we recognize that the Ministry’s recommendations can be applied to all school boards, throughout the province of Ontario. We have observed and received feedback from Black students, educators, parents and community partners that give credence to the manifestations of anti-Black racism that have been outlined in your review of the Peel District School Board.

These include high suspension and expulsion rates, the school-to-prison pipeline that has disproportionately affected Black male students, the streaming of Black youth into applied level courses, the underrepresentation of Black students in academic and gifted level courses, and Eurocentric curricula.

In addition to the recent PDSB Review and Report, there have been many studies, done over the years, that reveal similar findings. These include the 1992 Stephen Lewis Report on Race Relations in Ontario, the 2015 ONABSE Report on the Experiences of Black Educators in Ontario, the 2017 Dr. Carl James Report on the Schooling of Black Students in the GTA, the recent YRDSB and TDSB Ministry of Education reviews, the 1994 Black Learners Advisory Committee (BLAC) Report on Education in Nova Scotia and the 2017 UN Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

The fact that anti-Black racism and discrimination are still rampant in districts, throughout this province, causes grave concern to ONABSE and members of our community.

In our role as a provincial education community organization, ONABSE would like to meet and work with the Ministry of Education, the Education Equity Secretariat, and other stakeholders to discuss the following:

1. ONABSE and community stakeholder engagement with the Ministry and PDSB, with respect to the assessment and monitoring of the recommendations and directions that were stated in the PDSB Ministry Report.
2. The exploration of potential solutions that may be implemented, within the province and Ministry of Education, to address and discontinue the unacceptable patterns of anti-Black racism and inequities that the Black community is experiencing and has historically experienced. Some potential solutions could include:
   • establishment of a permanent branch, department or other entity within the Ministry that deals exclusively with issues affecting Black staff, students and parents of children of African descent, i.e. reduction of suspensions, streaming, dropout rates, excessive and heavy-handed disciplinary measures for staff and students, etc.

• mandatory and ongoing culturally responsive pedagogy and Africentric training for prospective, new and existing K-12 educators and support staff.
• increasing transparent, inclusive and equitable hiring and promotion practices.
• the creation and implementation of an Anti-Black Racism Policy.
• an exploratory look at existing Africentric schools and programs in the province of Ontario and the potential benefits for all students.

3. Clarification of the Review timelines given the COVID-19 situation, as well as other aspects of the report.
4. Concerns about the mental health and well-being of our Black students, staff, parents and allies in our communities, alongside the hurt and harm experienced as a result of the anti-Black racism expressed in the Review and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are looking to the Ministry to establish provincial accountability measures that should be implemented across the province. Trust has been broken for some time now, and much needs to be done to heal old wounds and restore that trust.

As a voice for the Black community groups in school districts, across the province, ONABSE has a moral imperative and a responsibility to our community to ensure that the Ministry’s efforts are followed through, and that all Boards adhere to the tenets of good governance and equity in education.

In closing, ONABSE looks forward to working with the Ministry, school districts, educators and community stakeholders, to establish inclusive, equitable, sustainable and systemic changes that will benefit the African-Canadian community now, and in the future.

Sincerely,
Board of Directors,
Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE)

CC: PM Justin Trudeau; Premier Doug Ford; Assistant Deputy Minister, Pat Case; Ontario Advocate for Community Opportunities, Jamil Jivani; Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, MPP Michael Tibollo; and PDSB Trustees.