Curriculum changes should not be made behind closed doors to appease insiders: NDP

@ Sadia Haque Lucky

Overnight, the Doug Ford government unilaterally deleted a section of the Grade 9 math curriculum which referenced a more equitable, anti-racist approach to math. A government official confirmed to the Toronto Sun that the deletion had been made at the request of Education Minister Stephen Lecce. NDP Education critic Marit Stiles and Anti-Racism critic Laura Mae Lindo released the following statement in response:

“It’s incredibly chilling that Stephen Lecce is willing to make a stroke of his pen — in a back room, behind closed doors, and with no consultation — to change what every child in Ontario will be taught. Lecce appears to have been responding to complaints from his own right-wing pals. As a result he shut out parents, experts, teachers and education workers, and he wiped out the months of work that experts put into developing the curriculum.

Let us be clear: curriculum changes should not be made unilaterally behind closed doors to appease Ford’s insiders.

The Grade 9 math program was changed specifically because Ontario had to finally recognize that the existing system treated Black, Indigenous and racialized students inequitably. It’s pretty clear we need more of an equity and anti-racism lens in schools, not less.”