Parents being asked to recruit teachers in Cole Harbour

Voicemail sent to parents from school

DARTMOUTH –Parents are now being asked to recruit new teachers, according to a voicemail sent out to parents at Cole Harbour District High School, where the school has been unable to fill positions in English, band, and drama.

Heather Corkum’s son is in grade 10 at Cole Harbour District High School. Since class started, his English class has been staffed by substitute teachers. A few days ago, Corkum received a robo-call from the school, asking parents to help recruit teachers for band and drama at the school as well.

“It is unacceptable that my child and his classmates are starting the school year without permanent teachers,” said Corkum. “I know how hard teachers and principals work to get the year started right and I’m not surprised that it’s becoming more difficult to recruit teachers with how Stephen McNeil has treated them over the last year.”

“We already have a situation where patients are resorting to recruiting their own doctors, and now, parents are being enlisted to recruit new teachers. Ensuring our province has the professionals it needs to deliver high quality education should be the responsibility of the Department of Education, not individual community members,” said Claudia Chender, NDP spokesperson for Education and Early Childhood Development.

In August, the Halifax Regional School Board also sent out an email to teachers highlighting a shortage of qualified French teachers. That email indicated that teachers who were qualified to teach French classes but were currently not doing so may be reassigned to address the shortage.

“In the winter, the Liberals repeatedly refused to listen to the concerns of teachers and forced the first ever province-wide teachers’ walkout. Now, we are starting to see what the longer term impacts are on teacher morale and recruitment,” said Chender. “Without a commitment from the Liberal government to treat teachers fairly, these issues are going to continue to get worse.”

A recent OECD report points out that enforced pay freezes and cuts have a negative impact on teacher supply and morale.

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