Fordwatch 3: The saga continues
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Fordwatch 3: The saga continues

Susan Atkins  – 2026-02-16
Forgetting is a basic ingredient in any government’s recipe for holding on to power. That’s why School Magazine has kept a tab on the efforts of this government to act for itself and its friends.

Here is Fordwatch 3 and hopefully there won't be a Fordwatch 4. If you’ve forgotten headlines, stories and details, just click on the Fordwatch links for a reminder.

Depoliticizing pedagogies of comfort and instrumentalism

Henry Giroux  – 2026-02-14
Education is too often reduced to efficiency, training, metrics, and measurable outcomes, while pedagogy is judged less by its intellectual force than by whether it preserves student comfort. This emphasis focuses narrowly on whether students feel uneasy or anxious in response to challenging knowledge.

Power play at Bowmore PS: an exercise in intimidation

William Paul  – 2026-02-04
The school community at Bowmore PS was looking for support and fair collaboration from the Toronto DSB. What they got was 2 administrators moved, 2 teachers fired and 8 more suspended. The community is in shock.

Mr. Calandra: Return our trustees

William Paul  – 2026-01-30
The TDSB needs its trustees back. They and colleagues from four other school boards, were shown the door at the end of the 2025 school year. The Board is run by Ministry of Education (MOE)-appointed Rohit Gupta who issues periodic decisions as he keeps the community in the dark.

Making hope in 2026

William Paul  – 2026-01-05
Imagine, friends of public education, if we allied with other citizens distraught about the evaporation of human rights and democracy, environmental collapse, cost of food and its offspring, malnourishment, housing and its offspring, homelessness. What if there were others who would join to demand redress for unmet obligations and further incursions on the rights of Indigenous peoples, deteriorating conditions of work, health and public education; all of it overseen by governments buoyed by a culture of cronyism? Imagine if we organized.

Special Ed parents: protecting democracy in our schools

Karen Bojti  – 2025-12-19
The winter holidays are upon us. It’s school concert time. Last night, I watched proudly as my son held up the entire baritone section of his school’s choir and played violin with the orchestra. Charlie is nearly sixteen and very sweetly, still believes in Santa Claus. He loves school and his teachers, his high school music teacher most of all. His courses and activities are the lifeline that keeps my son thriving. He has no idea that all three are under constant threat.

The “notwithstanding clause:” a tool for autocracy

William Paul  – 2025-12-01
Alberta Premier, Danielle Smith has been busy these past couple of months, invoking the “notwithstanding clause,” to protect legislation affecting schools, labour and families. Over the past few years, premiers have come to see the “notwithstanding clause” as a handy tool to avoid court challenges to legislation. But it’s undermining democracy and the problem is getting worse.

“Please Hold: Your child’s future is important to us”

Nigel Barriffe  – 2025-11-14
Ontario teachers aren't looking for bonuses or huge salaries. They're looking for safe class sizes, support and humans working with kids in classrooms. Paul Calandra's plan for a call centre, if it supplants elected trustees, will only push those wishes further from reach.

From Trump to Ford to Smith: the attack on public education

Nigel Barriffe  – 2025-10-29
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith invoked the notwithstanding clause to override Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms  in order to  force Alberta  teachers back to work, it wasn’t just an assault on Alberta educators — it was a warning to all of us.

Bill 33 and police in our schools

Kathy-Ann Murray  – 2025-10-23
Police in schools is not safety. This is surveillance. This is policing—not protection. And this is exactly what Bill 33 threatens to expand across Ontario.

Opinion: Ontario’s culture war on schools threatens democracy

Nigel Barriffe  – 2025-10-18
Lately, we’ve witnessed a series of disturbing events at the Toronto District School Board: A September 26 professional development day devolved into a fear-mongering police presentation. Islamic Heritage Month calligraphy workshop for 2,600 students was abruptly cancelled- the list goes on.

Anthem in Arabic? TDSB had no need to apologize

William Paul  – 2025-10-14
We move bit by bit towards the hijacking of verifiable information by increasingly autocratic governments that make us question what mistakes we might have made. As falsehoods are manufactured into truth we are ever ready to apologize not because, but in case we have made the mistake of honesty.

Who really created this crisis?

Nigel Barriffe  – 2025-10-12
Everywhere we turn, working people are being told to “tighten your belts." Parents are told to be patient while classrooms overflow, child-care spaces disappear, and wages fail to keep up with the cost of living. But when we look at the real numbers, a very different story emerges.

TDSB under supervision: Special needs kids face a bureaucratic maze

William Paul  – 2025-09-18
With over 40 000 special needs students in Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools, you can understand why parents worry about navigating a system which appears opaque. Until the Ford government replaced TDSB trustees with an appointed supervisor, they at least had someone to whom they could turn for help dealing with the bureaucratic maze.