"If the Canadian Council on Learning is essential," writes the Globe, "corporations or the charitable sector or both should flock to its rescue." Sorry, no. Charity sounds good in principle, but is notoriously fickle - when times are hard (which is when charities are most needed) people stop donating. And corporations donate only with an expectation of a return on investment - which is how we get think tanks that do nothing but parrot the corporate point of view, like the Fraser Institute.
Was the Canadian Council on Learning created in order to advocate for national standards, as Gary Mason suggests? Maybe, but the evidence for that is not overwhelming. Was it killed for political reasons, as he suggests? Again, maybe. But the argument can be made - and the Globe editorial makes it - that "at $85-million over five years, the Canadian Council on Learning is – to be blunt – a bit of a sinkhole." When I think about what I would have done with the money (we could have built a national online content and services network for the same cash) I can't disagree. The CCL may not have been essential - but equally, governments of all stripes have not been funding the sort of infrastructure that is.
More on this story from Joey Coleman, who asks why education professors aren't producing this kind of research (forgetting that it would still need to be funded, as professors can't fund national studies out of their salaries). Also, a Toronto Star editorial, which asserts, "The real reason for the cutback would appear to be political, on various levels." Press releases from The Liberal Party, the Canadian Federation of of Students, CASA.
Was the Canadian Council on Learning created in order to advocate for national standards, as Gary Mason suggests? Maybe, but the evidence for that is not overwhelming. Was it killed for political reasons, as he suggests? Again, maybe. But the argument can be made - and the Globe editorial makes it - that "at $85-million over five years, the Canadian Council on Learning is – to be blunt – a bit of a sinkhole." When I think about what I would have done with the money (we could have built a national online content and services network for the same cash) I can't disagree. The CCL may not have been essential - but equally, governments of all stripes have not been funding the sort of infrastructure that is.
More on this story from Joey Coleman, who asks why education professors aren't producing this kind of research (forgetting that it would still need to be funded, as professors can't fund national studies out of their salaries). Also, a Toronto Star editorial, which asserts, "The real reason for the cutback would appear to be political, on various levels." Press releases from The Liberal Party, the Canadian Federation of of Students, CASA.
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