Ford creates full-time EQAO job for failed Tory candidate

Instead of a daily rate for a few days of work per year, Doug Ford has made chairing the board that administers standardized testing a full-time, $140,000 a year gig for one of his failed candidates.

“Parents want to see every education dollar spent right in the classroom,” said NDP Education critic Marit Stiles. “Instead, Doug Ford is siphoning off cash to give to someone he trades favours with.

“That money is for children — not Ford’s insiders.”

The Ford government announced this week that Cameron Montgomery, who was the Conservative candidate for Ottawa-Orleans in the last election, will chair the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), the government agency responsible for standardized student testing throughout the province. Buried in the government orders was a change, making the chair’s job a full-time position for the first time, with a $140,000 salary plus per diems. The outgoing chair did the job on a part-time basis, taking home just the per diems, which generally worked out to less than $5,000 a year.

Parents and educators oppose the EQAO’s standardized testing. Andrea Horwath and the NDP have vowed to eliminate the EQAO standardized tests, saying that teachers are best positioned to evaluate each student’s progress.