Reverberations of Neo-Liberal Policies: The Slow Dilution of Secondary Alternative Schooling in the Toronto District School Board

Abstract

Azzarello offers an analysis of the ways in which the implementation of a neo-liberal agenda in educational policies and ideologies in Ontario, enacted since the early 1990s, has affected Toronto secondary alternative schools. She demonstrates how secondary alternative schools’ independence, democratic practices, and their unique philosophies are dissolving within a system that has been stripped of resources and progressive thinking. Reflecting on the impact of funding and staff cuts resulting from amalgamation of Toronto school boards enacted through Bill 104 (The Fewer School Boards Act), funding and staff cuts resulting from Bill 160 (the Education Quality Improvement Act), standardized testing, homogenous curriculum development, and prioritizing mastery of employability skills over critical thinking skills, Azzarello identifies how neo-liberal restrictions are eroding the fundamental tenets of secondary alternative schools in Toronto.