Hanes: Respect is a one-way street for Education minister

Montreal Gazette

4 days ago

By
Education Minister Bernard Drainville has been on a mission lately to instil civility in Quebec's classrooms.
Starting this fall, students will be obligated to use the formal 'vous' to address adults at school, while smartphones will be banned outright to eliminate distractions.
Despite these efforts to command respect from young people toward their teachers, he's failed to show much of it himself.
In fact, Drainville's latest manoeuvres show outright contempt toward those running and working in Quebec's public school system, in both word and deed.
Deep cuts to education were announced on the cusp of the summer holidays, catching administrators off guard. About $570 million was slashed after plans for the coming year were already set in motion, sending educators scrambling to review staffing and squeeze resources before classes resume in the fall. The last-minute timing of the reductions was disrespectful to begin with, but their scope was the real blow.
Outraged teachers, union leaders and parents warned crucial services would be lost and the most vulnerable students would suffer.
If Drainville was hoping the umbrage would die down over the summer, he was wrong. More than 157,000 Quebecers signed a petition spearheaded by Parti Québecois education critic Pascal Bérubé. And many took to the streets in protest.
Drainville's initial response to widespread concern was to insist the government wasn't actually cutting the education budget, but rather limiting projected increases after years of budget growth. While technically true (education spending has been rising by about 7 per cent annually in recent years and the government belatedly decided to keep it to 2 per cent), the effects would, nevertheless, be devastating. Schools would have to lay off staff, shelve tutoring sessions, cancel lunch programs, or reduce pedagogical supports for the students who need it most.
Attempts to dismiss the alarm came off as gaslighting.
But it's when the government reversed most of the cuts that the real disdain emerged.
Last week, Drainville came up with a 'new envelope' of $540 million to offset the previously announced budget compressions. But rather than just retracting what was previously announced, he attached strings to the money and lectured administrators about fiscal responsibility.
'Let's be clear: this is not an open bar,' the minister warned in a Facebook post. 'Accountability will be required.'
To access some of the funding, each English school board and French service centre will have to jump through hoops.
'Of the $540 million announced today, $425 million will be in a dedicated envelope,' Drainville said. 'In order to access it, each CSS should demonstrate they've made efforts to diminish their administrative expenses and commit to using the money solely for student services.'
The minister didn't bother to offer any examples of what 'administrative expenses' service centres and school boards are supposedly wasting money on. Instead, he made it sound as they were planning to throw parties with public funds. In reality, most principals, teachers, classroom aides, behavioural specialists, psychologists and speech pathologists probably buy supplies or snacks for their classrooms out of their own pockets. The 'open bar' remark was gratuitous.
Worse, is Drainville's comments suggest he doesn't get these dedicated professionals are the ones who provide the services to students he has suddenly realized are so critical.
This, after all, is what the entire education sector was trying to tell him when he announced the budget cuts at the start of the summer. Now, after weeks of 'consultation' (more like backlash) 'he's heard the worries and the needs.' It's as if he's throwing warnings back in educators' faces.
He could have just stuck with 'You spoke and we heard you.'
Drainville could have used the recent financial results showing Quebec went $3-billion less in the red last year than previously projected to justify a political climbdown, but he went with arrogance and haughtiness.
'We're choosing education, we're choosing students — without sacrificing sound management,' he declared, once again getting a dig in at school staff.
Education budgets have been climbing since the Coalition Avenir Québec was elected in 2018 — 55 per cent, in fact. But that was after a period of Liberal austerity. And after many of the province's teachers went on strike in late 2023 to demand support so they can help their students learn.
Education should be spared from belt-tightening as much as possible. It's an investment in the next generation.
This one-step-forward-two-steps-back routine of adding money and then taking it away, then putting it back again is more than short-sighted. It's destabilizing for public schools. Hiring and then letting support staff go only exacerbates the teacher shortage.
Premier François Legault has repeatedly claimed education is one of his priorities. But his government doesn't always act like it and his Education minister sure doesn't sound like it.
When asked in 2023 why elected Members of the National Assembly deserved a 30-per-cent pay hike, but not teachers, he responded snarkily: 'Are you really comparing the job of being a teacher to being an MNA?'
There's nothing wrong with schools establishing expectations for respect, but it should start with the Education minister.