Failed Progressive Conservative candidate Cameron Montgomery has landed a $140,000-a-year job chairing the agency that administers province-wide standardized testing for students — a post for which his predecessor earned less than $4,000 last year.

Montgomery’s appointment as chair of the board of directors at the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) marks the first time the position is a full-time job — a move that has drawn criticism.

“It’s not a full-time job, and I don’t know how you make it into a full-time job,” said former NDP education minister Dave Cooke, who was a board member for 10 years, the last three as chair, before retiring in October. “If he’s there every day I don’t know what (Montgomery) is going to do.”

Here’s another Ontario NDP promise from their election platform that’s getting a lot of attention: Ending the EQAO standardized tests in schools.

The OP is the President of the Ontario Teacher’s Federation.

I don’t know a lot about this particular standardized test, but I’ve heard a lot of teachers and students happy with this promise to end the EQAO tests from the Ontario NDP.

Full Ontario NDP platform here:

A report the Ontario government commissioned recommends substantial changes to standardized testing across the province.

The report, led by professor Carol Campbell from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education was released Tuesday. It recommends phasing out the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) tests for Grade 3 and Grade 9 students.

It also recommends an overhaul of the standardized Grade 6 test and an end to the literacy test Grade 10 students need to pass in order to graduate, replacing it with another test that would not be a diploma requirement.