Red Tape Challenge in Public Education

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Red tape, paperwork and administrative overload are common obstacles identified by professionals in the public education system that can distract them from their core mandate – supporting students.

Educators have told us there is too much paperwork to fill out and too many forms to fill in. This frustration is combined with the perception that the overall legislative and policy framework is too restrictive. Teachers do not have the flexibility to respond to student needs and time that they do have is often eaten up by administrative and bureaucratic burden.

In order to tackle this problem, we want to hear from you – teachers, educational assistants and other professionals across the system. We want to hear from students and parents as well. What prevents teachers from supporting their students? What keeps principals and administrators from being innovative and taking risks?

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) is launching the first public education red tape challenge. We would like to hear from you on areas for improvement – whether it is the Education Act, regulation or policy or a particular practice unique to your school district or school.
 

Starting today, you can email your submissions to [email protected]. Be sure to indicate “Red Tape” in the subject line. Please describe the pain point, its source and ideas for improvement. Try to be as precise as possible in terms of the source of the red tape. If there are best practices out there that we need to know about, feel free to share them with us. Once received, your thoughts will be reviewed internally by a team of subject matter experts, including educators.

Submissions received by EECD will be initially screened to ensure feasibility (i.e. legality, is consistent with values and vision of the public school system and is something that can be responded to provincially). These submissions will then be posted on the EECD website for 30 days, and the public will be asked to crowdsource and come up with innovative and creative options for resolving the red tape.

All citizens, but particularly teachers, students and parents, are encouraged to submit their ideas for change and potential solutions. Once the 30 days have expired, department staff will consult relevant subject matter experts in order to determine how to implement the red tape reduction.