This is alarming, and sad...
Deal with causes of teacher absenteeism—not just symptoms
Teachers are more likely to take sick days when they feel unsafe at school. So school boards should do a better job of keeping both teachers and students safe. This means cracking down on student misbehaviour and ensuring that violent students receive significant consequences—including suspensions and permanent expulsions.
Another thing that undoubtedly will help reduce the number of sick days is to stop imposing useless fads on teachers. Teachers want to do their jobs effectively, and this isn’t likely to happen if they are subjected to endless diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) sessions.
The harm teachers often experience during DEI sessions is real. Last year, former Toronto principal Richard Bilkszto took his own life after experiencing ongoing harassment for daring to challenge his DEI trainer. In addition, recent research shows that far from promoting tolerance and inclusion, mandatory DEI sessions simply create more animosity and division. The TDSB recently called on the Ford government to force all teachers in the province to obtain DEI
certification. Hopefully, the government ignores that call.
It would also help if school board trustees and senior administrators tightened their own belts. For example, it’s no secret that Ontario school boards are administratively
top-heavy. Few things are more frustrating than seeing administrative departments grow in size while classroom teachers are continually told to do more with less. This leads to teacher burnout, which obviously increases the total number of sick days.
School boards should stop subjecting teachers to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) sessions.
www.fraserinstitute.org