They finally have a deal. After two years of negotiating, the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and the Manitoba School Boards Association reached a tentative agreement last month. If the agreement is ratified by teachers, this will be their first provincewide collective...
Michael Zwaagstra
Michael Zwaagstra is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre and public high school teacher. He received his Bachelor of Education and Master of Education from the University of Manitoba and Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty University in Virginia. He is the author of A Sage on the Stage: Common Sense Reflections on Teaching and Learning, and co-author of What’s Wrong with Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them. He is a frequent author of education policy research and newspaper columns across Canada. His research mainly focuses on curricula, teaching instruction and public education. Michael’s research and commentary have been featured in radio, television and newspapers across the country. Michael lives with his wife and children in Steinbach, Manitoba.
Research by Michael Zwaagstra
Micromanaging School Boards is the Wrong Approach
Remember Bill 64? Introduced in 2021 by the former Progressive Conservative government, Bill 64 proposed to abolish locally elected school boards. The NDP led the charge against this bill. Current education minister Nello Altomare, then serving as his party’s...
Groupthink on School Boards is Not Inclusive
The recent by-election in the Louis Riel School Division (LRSD) attracted a lot of media attention, much more than usual. That’s because this was the seat vacated last November by former Ward 1 trustee Francine Champagne. To say that her short tenure was controversial...
School Boards Must Stop Hiding Behind Their Communications Officers
Earlier this month, a social media post from the Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB) about the inclusion of Indigenous content in its English curriculum ended with the following line: “This post was created with the assistance of #AI, but is made better by...
Featured News
There’s Nothing Fair About Canadian Health Care
For the past 14 years, Vancouver surgeon Dr. Brian Day has led the charge for health-care reform, pushing for the right of patients to pay for private care if their health and well-being are threatened as a result of waiting in a stagnant and overburdened public...
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
The path to net zero, based on the much disputed belief that carbon dioxide is a pollution, is more steep and impractical than most people realize. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will require much more power generation and a greatly upgraded grid to...
Students Deserve Action, Not More Excuses
Student academic achievement is heading downhill in every single province in Canada. That’s what the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report shows. Over the last twenty years, there has been a steady decline in the math, reading, and...
Problems With Teacher Certification Go Beyond the Education Bureaucracy
Want to become a public-school teacher? If so, you need a teaching certificate from Manitoba Education’s certification unit. Provincial regulations state that prospective teachers must hold a Bachelor of Education degree from a recognized university. This requirement...
Leaders on the Frontier – Parents Seeking Common Sense Education – With Michael Zwaagstra
Big Topics & Big Ideas
Some Non-Partisan Education Advice for the New Government
Earlier this month, Manitobans elected a new provincial government. As a result, NDP leader Wab Kinew will soon be sworn in as Manitoba’s twenty-fifth premier. No doubt premier-designate Kinew intends to make significant changes to education policy. So here is some...
Anti-Parental Rights Rhetoric Undermines Public Education
The debate over parental rights has become a flashpoint in the upcoming Manitoba provincial election. The Progressive Conservatives are promising to strengthen parental rights while the Liberals and NDP have both denounced this pledge as a “dog whistle” to bigots. One...
Respecting Parental Rights Should Be a Given
In a recent campaign announcement, PC leader Heather Stefanson promised to protect parental rights in schools. Specifically, Stefanson said that parents will have the right to be informed about curriculum, the right to be involved in addressing bullying, the right to...
More Money Alone Won’t Fix Schools
Judging by the recent flurry of spending announcements, provincial politicians are eager to spend more money on public education. For example, the Ontario government recently announced that it will invest an additional $180 million to improve the academic skills of...
Parents Must be Kept in The Loop About Their Children
It’s not often that New Brunswick makes the national news. It’s rarer still for a New Brunswick premier to become a Canadian household name. But that’s exactly what’s happened to Premier Blaine Higgs. Last month, New Brunswick’s education minister announced changes...
Percentage Grades Belong in School
There is a significant push by some educators to abolish traditional percentage grades. This “ungrading” movement wants teachers to eliminate, or at least minimize, the status of formal grades. A Winnipeg Free Press story recently described how one Winnipeg high...