ETFO opposes the Ministry of Education's School Information Finder (SIF) website for the following reasons:

• The SIF has an inappropriate focus on EQAO test results—an overly narrow measure of a school's effectiveness. This misuse of testing data leads to certain schools being stigmatized because of their results. 
  
  
• The SIF website provides demographic data about schools such as socioeconomic status, parental levels of education, the number of special needs students, and the number of students whose first language is neither English nor French.
  
  
• These data encourage users to compare schools based on the information provided; in other words, to shop for schools based on test results and/or demographics.

Join ETFO in its fight to have the School Information Finder dismantled.  Spread the word about noSIF.ca to your friends, neighbours, and colleagues.  Encourage them to visit this site and email their MPP to protest the SIF.  If you manage a blog or website, help promote the campaign by embedding icons with links back to noSIF.ca.

  E-mail Your MPP

  Timeline

Expand titles for more details.

• Late March, 2009 - The Ministry of Education launches the School Information Finder (SIF) website

  The Ministry's April 4 press release emphasizes the following about the School Information Finder (SIF):

  • "The school profiles include general information about the school (e.g., enrolment), student achievement information (e.g., Grade 6 reading scores) and student population information (e.g., students' first language)."
  • "Parents can now search for schools in a variety of ways, view school profiles and compare the data for up to three schools at a time."

  "Student population information" also includes the socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial background of the students; the number of new immigrants; and the number of special needs students in a school.

• April 6, 2009, a.m. - ETFO convenes a meeting of education stakeholders opposed to the SIF website

  • In attendance are representatives from parent groups, trustee organizations, and teacher federations.
  • Attendees strategize on how to oppose the SIF website at the Education Partnership Table meeting scheduled with the Minister of Education that afternoon.

• April 6, 2009, p.m. - A wide coalition of education stakeholders oppose the SIF website at the Education Parternship Table

  • Parents were the first to voice their concerns, as Annie Kidder from People for Education and representatives from Home and School Associations in both the public and Catholic systems outlined the significant issues and problems inherent in the site.
  • In turn, each group around the Minister’s Partnership Table—including OPSBA—expressed their opposition to the School Information Finder.
  • The Minister, faced with unanimous opposition, offered only to disable the “school back-pack” icon which enables school comparisons, to remove the information for schools of less than 50 students, and to set up a working group to determine "what should be added to the site to make it acceptable."
  • After the meeting, and in light of the Minister’s response, the informal coalition initiated by ETFO determines that the site cannot be “fixed” by adding additional information given that the premise and the information that is currently there is so prejudicial to public education.

• April 7, 2009 - People for Education launches an online protest letter

  • The parent's group encourages all concerned citizens to sign its 'Open Letter to the Premier and the Minister of Education.'
  • People for Education is particularly critical of the 'School Bag' function which allows users to compare schools--similar to a shopping cart.

• June 1, 2009 - The members of the Education Partnership Table send a joint letter to the Premier and the Minister requesting that the SIF website be dismantled.

  • The letter is also sent to every MPP in the province.
  • Opposition to the website is once again unanimous, and includes parent groups; trustee associations; associations for directors of education, superintendents and principals; school board associations; and teacher federations.

• June 4, 2009 - The Toronto Star reports that the government is ignoring the call to remove the SIF website

  • In the article, one Toronto educator refers to the website as "...an appalling way for families to shop for schools that have 'people like us.'"

• June 5, 2009 - NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese calls a Queen's Park press conference to keep pressure on the government to remove the site.

  In attendance are:

  • ETFO Past President, David Clegg;
  • Michelle McNabb, Past President, Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations;
  • Ken Coran, President OSSTF; and
  • Uzma Shakir, Colour of Poverty Coalition

• Mid-September 2009 - The Ministry surveys parents about the SIF website and sets four meeting dates to discuss the issue with the members of the Education Partnership Table

  • Meetings are set for October 6, 14, 20 and 28 to discuss the survey results and continue discussions related to stakeholder concerns.

• September 28, 2009 - OTF and the four teacher affiliates meet

  • They develop a joint plan of action should the government refuse to remove demographic information from the SIF website.

• October 6, 2009 - Education Partnership Table meeting #1 re the SIF website

  • The Ministry shares the results of its survey of parents, provides data about how information on publicly funded schools is shared in other jurisdictions, and outlines the purpose and goals of the SIF tool.

• October 14, 2009 - Education Partnership Table meeting #2 re the SIF website

  • The Ministry continues to focus on making the case for including demographic data on the SIF website.
  • The coalition of teacher, parent, trustee, principal, superintendant, and Director of Education groups continues to challenge the SIF concept, and the need to centrally post school data.

• October 20, 2009 - Education Partnership Table meeting #3 re the SIF website

  • Discussions continue between the Ministry and the stakeholders about the types of demographic data that can and should be included in the SIF website.
  • The Ministry commits to developing a prototype of a revised SIF to present at the Oct. 28 meeting.  This revised website may continue to include the demographic data.

• October 21, 2009 - Education Partnership Table meeting #4 is postponed

  • Originally scheduled for Oct. 28, the meeting is postponed until the new year to allow time for the Ministry to develop its mock-up of a revised SIF website.

• November 23-24, 2009 - ETFO Provincial Executive discusses the SIF and the talks with the government

  • Executive votes to withdraw from the Ministry School Information Finder partnership table discussions because of the government's stubborn refusal to remove harmful demographic data, and narrow EQAO data, from the website.
  • Executive also votes (a) to encourage other 'coalition members' to withdraw from talks with the government; and (b) to continue its campaign to have the SIF dismantled.

• December 4, 2009 - President Hammond writes to Minister Wynne to inform her that ETFO will no longer participate in SIF partnership table discussions

  • Hammond cites "...the ill-advised use of demographic data, the inappropriate focus on EQAO test results, and the promotion of school comparisons based on EQAO data..." as the reasons for withdrawing.

• December 10, 2009 - ETFO writes to Partnership Table organizations encouraging them to withdraw from SIF website partnership discussions

  • the letter cites the government's failure to respect the consensus view of the partners that the SIF website will harm public education, and its refusal to respond to these concerns in a substantive way.

• February 3, 2010 - ETFO launches an online campaign to end the SIF website.

  • This includes a video of President Sam Hammond discussing the destructive nature of the SIF website, a tool to send a letter to your MPP, and icons that can be used on other websites to promote the campaign.