Quebec's Education minister Jean-François Roberge says he wants to make sure schoolteachers are able to express themselves freely, after a school board in the Laurentians allegedly sent one of its grade school teachers packing — allegedly, because she poured her frustrations with the system in the media.
The St. Eustache-based Seigneurie-des-Mille-Iles school board began dismissal proceedings against one of its grade school teachers in Rosemere, Kathya Dufault — apparently, for criticizing the way the board deals with children with learning disabilities, and those who teach them.
In an op-ed piece in La Presse on Oct. 25, she insisted that such kids should not be placed in regular classes, because she lacks the proper training to deal properly with their particular needs.
"I love my profession," Dufault wrote. "I love being around young people, taking part in their futures...but as the years have gone on, it's become harder and harder. Too many students with special needs. No training to help me."
She also said at the time she wrote the piece, she was on a break from teaching, citing exhaustion. She also suggested school officials were primarily interested in the kids' success rate — in terms of grades.
"I'm not being given training to help them, but I'm being watched closely," she wrote. "Results-based management is what it's called."
The Seigneurie-des-Mille-Iles board says Dufault is being let go for reasons unrelated to her comments. Nonetheless, several dozen people braved the cold on Monday to stage a rally outside the board's headquarters.
Roberge, a former teacher, says as Education minister he'd like to insert a clause in the teachers' future collective agreements protecting their right to speak out about what they perceive to be problems in the system.