Putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop: Allowing union to handle teacher discipline has negative effect on professional standards

Giving teachers’ unions control over disciplinary issues within their ranks has led to problems maintaining professional standards in Atlantic Canada, suggests a report released Tuesday.

From teachers who use distance courses of dubious value to boost their pay, to school boards being left helpless to fire educators who have committed criminal acts of sexual indecency, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies cited numerous issues with the regulatory system in Nova Scotia and, to a lesser extent, other Atlantic provinces.

The report, which used Nova Scotia as a case study, found the teachers’ union not only defended problematic teachers and practices, it also refused to release the most basic data about everything from the number of teachers it hired, to how many were dismissed or censured, and under what circumstance.