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MEMO-HEADER-PRES

JANUARY 24, 2017

Premier’s Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes

Colleagues,

This Friday, January 27th , your Association will be making a presentation to the Premier’s Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes.

I need you to do two things – for yourself, your colleagues, the teaching profession, your school and your students. First, visit the Premier’s Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes through the NLTA website or directly at (www.ptfnl.ca). Secondly, and this is the important part, write and send in a submission. The website will tell you how. Some of you will have a copy of the submission you made to the NLTA Panel on the Status of Public Education. Consider submitting it to the Task Force.

Don’t put it off. Do it now. The Task Force is taking submissions throughout the rest of January, February, and the first of March, with the intention of completing a report in the Spring of 2017. Members of the Task Force are charged with making recommendations on the K-12 school system to inform Government’s action plan to improve educational outcomes. They will examine everything from early learning, to mathematics, to inclusive education, to student mental health and wellness, to teacher education and professional development.

I know you are busy, but the time is short, and the opportunity to have input into the report too important to pass up.

Over 6000 teachers in our province live and breathe these issues daily. I know how important these and other issues are to you from my school visits and conversations with teachers, and from the many submissions teachers made to our own Panel. Teachers have the professional knowledge and experience. If anyone is in a position to make practical recommendations on addressing these challenges, educators are. If anyone has the necessary professional judgement to determine what educational outcomes are important and what resources you need to achieve them, you do. You are the educational experts.

Submit your ideas and recommendations to the Task Force as an individual or as part of a staff, grade level or department, NLTA Special Interest Council, or branch executive. Do it online or at one of the public sessions. Submissions are confidential. Contact the NLTA if you need advice on how to do so.

The recommendations of the Task Force will have an impact on your teaching conditions and your students’ learning conditions for a very long time. It’s imperative that you contribute to shaping them.

Take care,

James Dinn
NLTA President

jdinn@nlta.nl.ca