Conservative politicians, their vocal supporters, private school operators, separate school system officials, charter school advocates, administrators from such institutions, and parents of home schooled children have all been chanting the mantra of "competition is good" for so long most of us can hardly remember hearing anything else.

So the reaction to Edmonton Public School Board Chair Michael Janz's suggestion last week that the public system should offer its own Roman Catholic education specialty program has been interesting, to say the least.

They hate it!

It turns out that competition is always good … except when it isn't! Who knew?

If a principal who posts seemingly xenophobic videos and comments on her Facebook page isn't guilty of professional misconduct, who is? The York Region District School Board (YRDSB) isn't saying.

It's been over two months since the YRDSB first received complaints about Ghada Sadaka, principal of Sir Wilfrid Laurier School in Markham, Ont., who posted contentious messages about Islam and Muslims on her Facebook page. She has since apologized for those comments, saying:

I always know when I've dropped one of the gajillion juggling balls that is my teaching job. It's when my students' faces have the kind of look a puppy has when it's being blamed for something it didn't do. They look at me all wide-eyed and wondering what just happened as they listen to me express frustration.

This frustration always happens when I temporarily forget what I know about what my students need. Last week, at a moment when I was exhausted and distressed, I forgot that lecturing after 1 p.m. is an utter waste of time, completely out of sync with students' circadian rhythms.