Bill 107 2013

An Act to amend the Education Act with respect to hiring practices for teachers

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  (1)  Paragraph 26 of subsection 11 (1) of the Education Act is amended by adding "subject to subsection (5)" at the beginning.

   (2)  Subsection 11 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraph:

defining nepotism

26.0.1 defining "nepotism" for the purposes of subsection 170 (1.2);

   (3)  Section 11 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Hiring practices

   (5)  A regulation made under paragraph 26 of subsection (1) shall not use a person's seniority on a board's roster of occasional teachers as a factor to rank the person for assignment or appointment to a position as a teacher if the factor is accorded greater weight than any other factor, such as the person's teaching qualifications.

   2.  (1)  Subsection 170 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

policy for hiring teachers

  5.1  establish and maintain a policy for assigning or appointing persons to a position as a teacher and comply with the policy when assigning or appointing persons to a position as a teacher;

copies of policy

  5.2  send a copy of its policy described in paragraph 5.1 to the Minister, make a copy of it available for inspection at its offices and post a copy of it on its website on the Internet;

   (2)  Section 170 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Policy for hiring teachers

   (1.1)  A policy described in paragraph 5.1 of subsection (1) for assigning or appointing persons to a position as a teacher shall comply with the regulations, if any, made under paragraph 26 of subsection 11 (1), but if those regulations conflict with subsection (1.2) of this section, that subsection prevails.

Nepotism

   (1.2)  The policy shall prohibit a board from deciding to assign or appoint a person to a position as a teacher if the board, in making the decision, accords greater weight to nepotism than to any other factor, such as the person's teaching qualifications.

   3.  Ontario Regulation 274/12 (Hiring Practices) made under the Act is revoked.

Commencement

   4.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   5.  The short title of this Act is the Fair Hiring to Support Teachers, Parents and Students Act, 2013.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill revokes Ontario Regulation 274/12 (Hiring Practices) made under the Education Act and amends the Act to provide that no regulation can be made under the Act if it uses a person's seniority as an occasional teacher as a factor to rank the person for assignment or appointment to a position as a teacher and if the factor is accorded greater weight than any other factor, such as the person's teaching qualifications.

The Bill also amends the Act to require every school board to establish a policy for assigning or appointing persons to a position as a teacher. The policy prohibits a board from deciding to assign or appoint a person to a position as a teacher if the board, in making the decision, accords greater weight to nepotism than to any other factor, such as the person's teaching qualifications. Regulations made under the Act can define the meaning of "nepotism".