Catholic trustees: little passion for the common good

Catholic New Times, June 29, 2003

It was an extraordinary, if not astonishing sight, never before seen by the people of Ontario--former Tory Premier Bill Davis (1971-85), the very symbol of political cool and reserve, launched into an impassioned defence of public education. Davis, chairing a session on Investing in People at the Toronto City Summit Alliance on June 5, has long been disenchanted with the present heavily ideological brand of right-wing conservatism. No one in living memory had ever seen bland Bill so emotional. He apologized "for this somewhat emotional presentation." The unmistakable throbbing of the heart was clearly audible beneath the weight of his words.

What exactly did-Davis say? Among other things, he honoured teachers and esteemed the place of public education in our society saying, "Public education deserves our support. They (teachers) are not underworked and overpaid ... they are the most relevant profession we have in Ontario. Show me a good doctor, a good lawyer, a good whatever and I'll show you a good kindergarten teacher, a good high school teacher and a good university professor. There is no more important commitment that a government can make than to education. I think it's fundamental that we all understand that and appreciate it and give it that level of support, and this is from kindergarten and pre-kindergarten through to post-graduate education."

Davis, in many ways, is the opposite of the virulent, red meat, privatizing-mad crew that has taken a sledgehammer to public institutions not only in Ontario but in other jurisdictions as well. Bill Davis was, and remains, the very embodiment of the true, compassionate conservative-cautious, refined and thoughtful, distrustful of sudden and disruptive change--fiscally conservative yet socially progressive. He was part of a generation and a way of thinking which viewed social spending, in particular education, as a great investment in the future. It has been common knowledge to Davis insiders that he has long been disenchanted with his market media, tax-slashing successors who have nothing in common with the government of his day but the conservative name.

Catholic trustees ... latter day conservatives?

Trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) have, to their own disrepute, embraced the destructive dogmas of this church of the latter day conservatives.

The former premier needs no forgiveness for his righteous outburst; but it is hard to understand, much less forgive, Catholic trustees for their stony-faced lack of passion for public education in general. Their adamantine refusal to support Catholic teachers as well as their alacrity in supporting the government's moral pogrom against teachers is a measure of how entrenched they have become in this regressive ideology.

Tragically, we will hear no Bill Davis outrage against the dying of the light from this parcel of trustees. One suspects a hard core harbours an ideological dislike for teachers and other public servants.

It is significant that Davis' outburst came on the heels of a depressing and unnecessary three-week lockout of Toronto Catholic elementary teachers. The sudden move by trustees to lock out teachers stunned everybody and brought charges of collusion with the Tories from a broad spectrum of the community, including both opposition parties. The Tories were counting on a 20-point spike in opinion polls which they figured their new campaign platform of banning teacher strikes and lockouts would bring them. Unwittingly or not, they found and have steadily found, a willing partner in the Catholic trustees.

The lockout, shockingly called after the brutal abduction and murder of Holly Jones, a 10-year-old attending a Catholic school in Toronto's west end, appalled many and placed frightened students outside the familiar confines of one of the last secure institutions in kids' lives--their local Catholic elementary school.

We proffer no conspiracy theories here. Catholics, along with wide swatches of the public, have indeed been seduced by tax-cut mania, apparently oblivious to the deep harm to the common good, a fundamental rock of Catholic social teaching. The soil of the common good, unless we are vigilant, is easily contaminated by the cause of common greed. The Rozanski report, commissioned by the government, pointed out an inadequate level of funding. All partners in education have been telling the tin-eared government this for years. Its response--tax breaks for private schools and bake sales for text books.

Single issues and narrow agendas

It is here that Catholic school trustees, particularly in Toronto, have failed miserably. Progressive Catholics have long winced with embarrassment as Catholic trustees, either invincibly ignorant of Catholic social teaching or harbouring single issues and narrow agendas, have failed the test time and again. In the 1960s and 1970s, we watched with deep respect as public school trustees, literate in educational theory and committed to social justice, fashioned a dynamic school system, unafraid to intervene and give schools and teachers the tools to obviate marginalization and make schools the great leveller. This carried forward the dream of Egerton Ryerson. While it was certainly true that public education was better funded, the last two decades of improved financing for Catholic schools have, ironically, witnessed stagnation in the quality of trustees.