If you think that education and school board elections aren't important, here are some words of wisdom from one of our newest citizens to set you straight.
The media coverage of school board contests has been woefully inadequate during the run-up to Monday's vote. With responsibility for millions of children and thousands of employees province-wide, you would think people would want to pay attention to school boards. What about all those taxpayer dollars too? School board budgets are larger than those of many municipalities -- Ottawa public board's budget is just over $840 million and Toronto's is about $3 billion. Still don't care?
Sometimes I hear that democracy is just too messy, too complicated to try and understand. Really? What would you think if I told you that this messiness makes democracy special as it allows us to come together to make the best decisions for our communities.
James Surowiecki's book,
The Wisdom of Crowds, makes this case well. Deliberated decisions made by a group are generally better than decisions made by an expert or even a group of experts. Surowiecki cites scientific evidence to back this up. I think his view is generally correct as I've seen it play out in the school boardroom on numerous occasions.
Let me give you a recent example. Many of you would have heard about the troubling conditions in the Bell High School science labs. Yes, they were bad. I speak not just as a trustee but also as a former chemist. Reagents were improperly stored due to a lack of proper storage facilities, safety equipment and infrastructure were lacking, and many of the lab benches were wobbly. It was an accident waiting to happen.
School council parents and staff at the school had drawn attention to these problems for sometime but likely due to the school district's overall need for repairs and probably because of the pressures for the construction of kindergarten space, nothing had been done to address the failing infrastructure of school science labs for over a decade. Bell's labs were the worst but as it turned out, other school labs weren't in great shape either.
When staff didn't adequately respond to concern expressed by the local trustee, the board decided to act and unanimously passed a motion directing staff to prepare a report on the state of all science labs. To its credit, staff recommended that $16 million be spent over five years to update all lab facilities within the OCDSB.
This is one reason why it's important to have democratic oversight within education. It's complicated to educate children particularly within the modern context of a demanding curriculum, varied populations and cultures, and numerous student needs. In a large rapidly changing institution, children can be overlooked and their educational requirements can go unmet.
In a real sense, school trustees are often the bridge between parents who rightfully have the best interest of their children at heart and school board staff who have to take into account the needs of all students. We are the simultaneous interpreters -- the people in a booth who hear something in one language and translate for those who think and speak another. We have our ear to the ground so that we appreciate the concerns of parents while we also try to understand the acronyms, regulations and constraints of education staff.
As elected officials, school trustees are often contacted by members of the public. People want their representative to give them advice or solve a problem. This is an expectation parents have when they contact their trustee. Many times I've been able to find a solution simply by knowing who to call and what to say. This is also a part of the democratic process and it has been a joy to help families and students when I could.
I've written about trustees' work in another post,
How to make an astronaut laugh. By the way, Chris Hadfield will be speaking in Ottawa toward the end of November. He is wonderful story teller!
Perhaps Michael Barrett, the President of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, sums up the role of trustees best in
a recent article published in North Bay's
Bay Today. When it comes to education, we are the voice of the community. Trustees would not be able to do this if they were appointed by or beholden to another level of government.
Education is important. Vote on Monday. Do your homework on the trustee candidates in your area.
It's All in Your Hands is a great site to find most of the information you'll need to make an informed choice on Monday.
Who you elect to office can make a big difference for your school board. Most candidates have websites where they can be contacted. Ask questions of your candidates. There are some exaggerating their experience, such as Jeremy Wittet who is running in my zone and claims to be a "former Ontario school board trustee." About ten years ago, Mr. Wittet was a high-school student trustee, which is a valued but very different role. Ask them why they want to be a school board trustee and then listen. Do they respond in a way that shows they have the best interests of children at heart?
People often ask who I support. In Ottawa, Christine Boothby in Zone 2 Kanata and Shawn Menard in Zone 9 Rideau-Vanier/Capital have been acclaimed. Trustees Rob Campbell, Bronwyn Funiciello, Katie Holtzhauer and Jennifer McKenzie are not running again. Over the years, they have put in many long hours in a job that can be thankless. They will be missed.
I recommend the following candidates because I respect and have worked with them or I generally agree with their approach:
- Donna Blackburn in Zone 3 Barrhaven/Knoxdale-Merivale,
- Theresa Kavanagh in Zone 4 Bay,
- Anita Olsen Harper in Zone 5 College,
- Chris Ellis in Zone 6 Alta Vista/Rideau-Rockcliffe,
- Curtis Bulatovich in Zone 7 Gloucester-Southgate/Osgoode/Gloucester South-Nepean,
- Erica Braunovan in Zone 10 Kitchissippi/Somerset,
- Shirley Seward in Zone 11 River,
- Michael Urminsky in Zone 12 Beacon Hill-Cyrville/Innes.
Elsewhere in Ontario, there are many good candidates. Some trustees I have worked with are either not running this time around or have been acclaimed. I have worked with almost all the following candidates and have great deal of respect for the following trustees:
- Durham District School Board: Michael Barrett in Oshawa;
- Grand Erie District School Board: Carol Ann Sloat in Brantford, Don Werden in Norfolk County;
- Greater Essex District School Board: Cheryl Lovell in Windsor, Julia Burgess in Kingsville, Essex, Harrow;
- Halton District School Board: Donna Danielli in Milton, Don Vrooman in Oakville;
- Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board: Todd White in Ward 5, Dawn Danko in Ward 7, Wes Hicks in Ward 8, Stefanie Sheils in Wards 9, 10, Alex Johnstone in Wards 11, 12;
- Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board: Cathy Abraham in Clarington;
- Keewatin-Patricia District School Board: Gerald Kleist in Ear Falls;
- Lakehead District School Board: George Saarinen, Marg Arnone;
- Rainbow District School Board: Tyler Campbell in Sudbury;
- Renfrew County District School Board: David Shields;
- Simcoe County District School Board: Michele Locke in Midland, Tay, Severn;
- Superior-Greenstone District School Board: Mark Mannisto in Greenstone;
- Toronto District School Board: Chris Glover in Ward 2, Howard Kaplan in Ward 5, Shelley Laskin in Ward 11, Mari Rutka in Ward 12, Cathy Dandy in Ward 15, Sheila Cary-Meagher in Ward 16, Jerry Chadwick in Ward 22;
- Upper Canada District School Board: Jeff McMillan in Ward 5, Arthur Buckland in Ward 9;
- Upper Grand District School Board: Mark Bailey in Guelph Wards 1, 5, Marty Fairbairn in Guelph Ward 6/Puslinch;
- Waterloo Region District School Board: Ted Martin in Kitchener, Kathi Smith in Kitchener, Kathleen Woodcock in Waterloo/Wilmot;
- York District School Board: Loralea Carruthers in East Gwillimbury/Whitchurch-Stouffville, Joel Hertz in Vaughan.
This week, Sergent-at-Arms Kevin Vickers has been rightly hailed for his heroism in defending Parliament. As recent events illustrate, democracy can be fragile.
If our Sergent-at-Arms can risk his life in defence of democracy, the least we can do is vote. And while you're at it, support education too by making an informed choice for your local school trustee.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.
