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My school board knows that I have retired. Why doesn’t the Ontario
College of Teachers have this information?
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School boards do not share with the College any of your personal information
relating to changes in address, name and or employment status. If
you have retired and intend to supply teach or do some occasional
teaching, you need to maintain your membership with the Ontario College
of Teachers in good standing. If you have retired and do not wish
to teach any more, please inform us in writing – with your signature
– that you have retired. Then we can list your status on the public
register of Ontario teachers as “retired” rather than “suspended –
non-payment of fees.” |
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I am a retired teacher and want to teach the 95 days allowed by
law. Do I need to be in good standing with the College of Teachers?
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The Education Act requires you to be a member in good standing of the Ontario College of Teachers to teach in a
publicly funded elementary or secondary school. It’s your responsibility to ensure you’re in good standing and the responsibility of the school board and the principal who hire you to ensure that any person they employ as a teacher is in good standing with the College. Pension questions should be directed to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.
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The reports of discipline decisions in the Blue Pages are quite
disturbing and I think they make the profession look bad. Why do
you publish them? Why do you publicize the names of some members
guilty of misconduct and not others? And why do you never have stories
about members who are found not guilty?
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The College’s disciplinary hearings are public, and members of the
public and the media regularly attend them. While the reports of these
hearings, both in the media and in Professionally Speaking are not
pleasant, many people tell us that they are impressed by the teaching
profession’s commitment to public disclosure and to ensuring that
teachers who are guilty of misconduct are penalized appropriately.
The College reports on discipline cases to fulfill our obligation to be publicly accountable, to ensure that schools, boards and colleagues are informed about findings of misconduct and for the education of College members about what constitutes professional misconduct.
The College policy is to always seek publication of the names of teachers found guilty of misconduct. In some cases – particularly where identifying the teacher could identify innocent victims – panels of the Discipline Com-mittee may direct that the teacher’s name be withheld.
The College does not normally publish reports of cases where the member is found not guilty. The Ontario College of Teachers Act gives members the option of requesting publication when it is decided that allegations against them were unfounded.
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I paid my membership fees to the College since 1997 because my
ability to contribute to the pension plan was linked to my good
standing at the College. Now that this is no longer the case, I
want my membership fees reimbursed.
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The rules for pension contributions that prevailed during that time
have just recently changed. When you made your contributions, College
membership was mandatory for teachers who wished to contribute to
the pension plan.
The College acted in good faith at the time and with the understanding of all parties that teachers needed to be members in good standing of the College to contribute to the plan. The College does not have the legislative authority to retroactively refund fees.
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