Education - B.C. 'BILLY-style
cbc.ca
B.C. private school deregulation slammed by NDP
March 7/07
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The provincial New Democratic Party says the high number of private colleges and institutes under investigation or suspension in B.C. is proof that deregulation has not worked.
In the past two years, 140 private schools, colleges, institutes and academies have closed, and 140 have been temporarily suspended — more than half of the 500 private schools registered with the province. (emphasis added)
NDP advanced education Critic Rob Fleming says the problem is the Liberal decision to allow the industry to regulate itself...Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell, however, says that the number of suspensions proves self-regulation is working, and that many schools are able to fix their problems and continue operating. As for the large number of closures, Coell says that's normal for the industry. |
The Vancouver Sun
Daily Bugle
Closed school's pupils fight loan debts
By Gerry Bellett
April 27/07
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B.C. Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell has asked the RCMP to reopen an investigation into the financial dealings of a Surrey private business college that closed last year, leaving some former students to be hounded by government bill collectors for repayment of student loans. Surrey RCMP opened an initial investigation into the affairs of Barkel Business College, (which merged with MTICC in 2006) in 2005.
...Victoria-Hillside NDP MLA Rob Fleming and Surrey-Newton NDP MLA Harry Bains said they have received dozens of complaints from former students who are being harassed for repayment of student loans that went directly to Barkel to pay for courses they claim they never fully received.
"This was money that went directly to the college -- was deposited in its bank account -- for courses the students never received," said Fleming. "The ministry suspected irregularities in the way student loans were being disbursed in 2004, which led to an audit. These students are now being held liable for all the money that was pocketed and the government wants the money back from them," he said. He said the audit resulted in an order suspending direct deposits to Barkel Business College.
Some students have debts as high as $35,000, he said, adding 125 have banded together and are using a credit counselling service to represent their interests with the provincial government...Bains told the house many of the students were new immigrants who were "manipulated into signing certain agreements wherein the ministry would send funds directly over to the college on their behalf. ... They ended up not getting the education they were promised and ended up under huge debts." |
Containing sexual abuse in the schools - B.C. 'BILLY-style:
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cbc.ca
Vancouver School Board decides not to release Quest report
Private consultant says board's current policies are good,
but need further improvement
Oct. 24/07
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The Vancouver School District has decided not to release a private consultant's report on the controversial Quest outdoor education program. The school board commissioned Victoria lawyer Don Avison to write a report on current policies and practices after criminal charges were laid against former teacher Tom Ellison ... found guilty in December, 2006 on five sexual misconduct charges stemming from incidents involving female students in the Quest program ... in the late '70s and early '80s while he ran the Quest outdoor education program. He was acquitted on nine other charges.
In a statement released Wednesday morning, the board says that under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act it can only make public the recommendations contained in the report. The board released a summary of those recommendations that refers only to the board's current policies, and not policies in place when the Quest program was active.
Laura Anderson, a former Quest student, and one of Tom Ellison's accusers, believes the board may be trying to dodge responsibility for what happened 25 and 30 years ago. She told CBC Wednesday morning she is frustrated the board won't publicly discuss why the Quest program was allowed to continue for so many years.
... Avison found the board's current policies are good overall but he recommends the board make more explicit reference to appropriate gender supervision for activities that involve overnight travel ... he recommends discipline record checks for all new hires, in addition to the criminal record checks already required, and that all employees be trained to understand the board's policies on how to handle student allegations of abuse. (emphasis added) |
... In other words, protecting VSB STAFF - not students.
Here's the summary:
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Summary of Recommendations
Mr. Avison's recommendations may be summarized as follows:
1. Policy and Protocols
- Use the Trek Program policy document as a model for all field study, outdoor and alternative education programs.
- Incorporate the Inter-Agency Protocol and Procedures for Investigating Alleged Physical and/or Sexual Abuse of Students by VSB Employees into the Board's Policy on Reporting Child Abuse.
- Ensure the Policy on Supervision of Students makes more explicit reference to appropriate gender supervision for activities that involve overnight travel.
- Ensure protocols are in place for appropriate and timely reporting to the College of Teachers.
- Implement protocols requiring discipline record checks for prospective employees, in addition to the mandatory criminal record checks which are already undertaken.
2. Training
- Provide all employees, including prospective administrators, with in-service training on the Inter-Agency Protocol and Procedures for Investigating Alleged Physical and/or Sexual Abuse of Students by VSB Employees and other Child Protection Initiatives.
3. Code of Conduct
- Implement a "VSB specific" Code of Conduct for all employees and volunteers.
4. Record Keeping
- Ensure there is consistent documentation of allegations and investigations of abuse.
- Update procedures for record keeping, including retention of personnel records. |
Note that parents are NOT among the various classes of persons invited to consult on these policies. Interestingly, STUDENTS (the potential victims, most of whom of are unable to vote or even drive) will be cavassed via their 'school representatives,' whatever that means:
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Dialogue with Students
In addition to addressing Mr. Avison's recommendations, the Board is taking other initiatives to further ensure all students enrolled in our schools feel informed and supported in reporting concerns of abuse. To this end, the Superintendent will be holding a series of dialogues with student representatives to discuss current policy and procedures with respect to abuse allegations. Through these dialogues, students will have opportunity to provide their perspectives on policies and procedures, and specifically, on reporting concerns of abuse. By the end of February, 2008, the Superintendent will be reporting to the Board with recommendations drawn from these dialogues. |
The Vancouver Sun
Tired Daily Real Estate Flier
Teachers get away with phone sex, tips to
B.C. test questions
By Janet Steffenhagen
Nov. 13/07
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A teacher who admitted to professional misconduct for tipping 10 students to questions and answers on the Social Studies 11 provincial exam last year will not face discipline from the body that regulates the teaching profession. Nor will a teacher who initiated phone sex with a student, or a teacher who reached into a girl's back pocket as she leaned over near his desk, called a boy sexy and held a girl's hand, making her uncomfortable. Those decisions not to discipline were among seven disciplinary decisions from the B.C. College of Teachers.
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The decisions were posted on the college website this month. They've prompted an outcry from critics who say the college's refusal to discipline is circumventing a new law requiring it to create a public registry identifying all disciplined teachers.
"They're not disciplining them and therefore they don't have to publish their names on the registry," said Cathy Abraham, who was on the college's governing council in 2003-04 by government appointment. Carl Ratsoy, a teacher who served on council as an elected member and later as a government appointee until 2004, said the decisions amount to "a backroom deal -- a handshake. The discipline process has degenerated into a non-discipline process." (emphasis added)
However, three of the seven decisions did include discipline:
- Michael Richard Hernandez received a reprimand and promised to quit teaching after an assault conviction for having an inappropriate relationship with an 11-year-old, which included placing candies on her face and removing them with his mouth.
- Howard Wallace Lee agreed to cancellation of his teaching certificate after he had an inappropriate relationship with an international student that included French-kissing on two occasions.
- Chi Yung Luu was barred from holding a teaching certificate for an indeterminate period after he was convicted in the U.S. of criminal voyeurism for videotaping boys in a change room at a sports facility. Luu served seven months in jail on that charge. He was later handed a 12-month conditional sentence for possession of child pornography after a search of his home in Canada. The case of Luu, who was teaching in North Delta at the time, was widely publicized.
The college does not identify disciplined teachers' schools or school districts. A seventh decision, involving an unnamed teacher, was so vaguely worded it was impossible to know why the teacher was investigated, except that it had to do with offending students' ethnic sensitivities. In all seven cases, the teachers had previously been disciplined by their school districts, but those decisions are not made public. (emphasis added)
Districts are required to report all discipline to the college so that it can regulate the profession in a way that maintains public trust. On its website, the college says it strives to maintain public confidence "through transparent processes and accountable decision-making." But Abraham and Ratsoy say there is no transparency and no accountability. "It's not quite a Star Chamber, but it's headed down that path," Ratsoy said in an interview. College spokesman Richard Walker said the criticism comes from people who don't have full details about any of the cases. "It's very dangerous to leap to assumptions based on narrow facts," he added.
While declining to comment on individual cases, Walker said the three-person committee that adjudicates almost every case that lands before the college makes decisions in the best interests of students. The members this year are two retired teacher-union leaders, Jim Gill and John Grain, and lawyer Tim Dunford, who represents parents. That committee handles most discipline through "consent resolution agreements." If those agreements include a reprimand, a suspension or a certificate cancellation, they are considered discipline. Of 29 agreements signed in recent years, 18 did not include discipline. The college does not release details of those agreements and they are not obtainable through freedom-of-information legislation. In some cases, the agreement specifies what details may be made public.
Although the college did not impose discipline in the phone-sex case, it did identify Mark Edward Dyck as the teacher who telephoned a student to talk about sexual intercourse and his sexual fantasies. Dyck admitted to professional misconduct and promised not to teach for two years.
Walker denied suggestions the college is trying to keep teachers' names off the discipline registry, comparing that concern to a conspiracy theory. "There are some people who believe the worst, no matter what," he added.
Education Minister Shirley Bond has said she expects the discipline registry to be in place within a year. The college has asked her to change the law so that names would be published only for teachers who caused physical, sexual or emotional harm to a student. (emphasis added) |
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Isn't it time for a program of anonymous post-secondary-style course/instructor evaluations like this one for British Columbia's high schools? |
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