Teacher perceptions of the effects of removing the principals and vice-principals from the bargaining units in Ontario

Abstract

On January 1, 1998, Ontario's Conservative government, under Premier Mike Harris, enacted Bill 160 that effectively excluded principals from their bargaining units, thus separating contract negotiations between teachers and administrators and leaving administrators without their longstanding connections to, and support from, their unions. Today, Ontario boards of education have a looming principal shortage, and a report commissioned by the Ontario Principals' Council suggests that qualified, dynamic, and capable individuals are deciding not to become principals, at least in part because of this removal (Williams, 2001). This study gathered quantitative and qualitative data that relate specifically to Ontario and which explore the perceived effects of the administrator removal from the teachers' federations from the standpoint of the teacher. Findings suggest that despite long-standing contract and job-role conflicts for principals in a teachers' federation, both teachers and administrators would prefer to be united in collective bargaining and that there have been some wide-reaching consequences of this removal.