The Costs of "Decolonizing" A School

The Costs of "Decolonizing" A School

We interviewed Ishan Acharya, a remarkable Grade 10 student at what used to be called Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School (affectionately known as “S-JAM”). In 2022, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) renamed the school to align with its “commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and ensuring inclusive learning environments where all students feel safe, welcomed and respected. [https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2026/05/14/student-files-foi-to-find-out-why-it-cost-175k-to-rename-waterloo-high-school/]” Erasing our nation’s founder in favour of the culturally neutral moniker “Laurel Heights” struck Ishan as an appalling use of taxpayer funds when some students can’t even afford to eat lunch. While the Board didn’t disclose the costs of the name change at the time, Ishan resourcefully filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request that revealed a cost of $195,105.86. We at least hope the WRDSB can prove the name change made students feel “safe, welcomed, and respected”, because those feelings are unlikely to be measurable among taxpayers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empowrconnect.substack.com [https://empowrconnect.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Joanna Williams: Education's Two Solitudes

Joanna Williams [https://cieo.substack.com/about] is a British author and public intellectual. She began her career teaching high school English prior to an academic career that included directorship of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education. We reached out to speak with Joanna about her recent essay, “How progressive education paves the way for the politicisation of schooling [https://cieo.substack.com/p/how-progressive-education-paves-the]”, which reflects work on her upcoming book We Don’t Need No Indoctrination. Her essay succinctly contrasts forward-looking progressive education with classical approaches to the intergenerational transmission of Western civilization. 1:48 Joanna’s background and rising concerns about educational politicization 5:00 The origins of progressive ‘child-centred’ education 8:35 What is classical education? 10:56 How do we decide what’s important to teach? 16:20 Is classical education more effective than progressive? 19:55 The Western canon helps us understand modern literature. 25:45 Top-down propagation of UNESCO priorities and ‘global citizenship’ 35:32 Gaslighting about history and ‘child-centered’ education 43:54 Future-focused progressivism leads to screentime and busywork 52:28 Students lose when we try to prepare them for an unknowable future This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empowrconnect.substack.com [https://empowrconnect.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Debbie Kasman – Ontario Education Reform

An education analyst with four decades of experience in public education, Debbie Kasman [https://debbielkasman.com/] has a vision for reforming Ontario’s public education system. In her view, the system is in crisis and needs a firm hand to restore order. She believes that replacing Boards of Trustees with a single boss—the Minister of Education—to whom Directors of Education are directly accountable, will calm the system. Debbie’s vision also includes changes to Faculties of Education and beefed up parent councils. We invited her to the podcast to try to assuage our skepticism. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empowrconnect.substack.com [https://empowrconnect.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Alexandra Lysova: Overcoming Internal Exile

Alexandra (Sasha) Lysova is a mother of children in public school and a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She immigrated to Canada to escape authoritarianism in Russia, and is alarmed by similar patterns emerging in Canada. Sasha has long been outspoken at her university about equity, diversity, and inclusion ideology. She has more recently been noticing similar problems at public schools attended by her children, exemplified by the careless adoption of land acknowledgements that now undermine BC property rights. This conversation covers Canada’s toxic politeness, quietly retreating into ‘internal exile’ to survive Russian and Canadian versions of authoritarianism, the importance of raising children who question things, the sacred nature of the new ideology, and different approaches to challenging land acknowledgements. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empowrconnect.substack.com [https://empowrconnect.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

PIC Policy Laundering

Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) quietly passed an anti-racism policy this fall. The Board claimed parent consultation via the Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) but didn’t mention that at least three of six parents opposed the policy. We describe this stealth policymaking, which includes not publicly disclosing draft policies, isolating parents in small groups, and not responding to emails. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empowrconnect.substack.com [https://empowrconnect.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]