A Message From Education Action: Toronto

June 17, 2010

At 6 pm on Wed. June 23 at the TDSB, help stand up for a Somali community which has lost its neighbourhood school and for communities across the city which are about to lose theirs.

Dear Friends,

     10 years ago, a group of some 90 (mostly Somali) children from Queen's Plate Drive in Rexdale were removed from their neighbourhood school (Humberwood Downs) to make room for children from wealthier families. They were sent to Elmbank, a school with less diversity, fewer resources, and much further away through wide dangerous streets. At Elmbank, they joined many other Somali children, as part of a process their parents are now starting to understand as the creation of an Apartheid school system in Toronto - the growing segregation of poor, black children, who are increasingly from immigrant families. The attached flyer asks you to join these parents at the TDSB on June 23 to demand that their children be returned to their neighbourhood school. They need your support. Please give it to them.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FLYER ON THE SOMALI PROTEST

     At the same time, parents from communities across the city - under the Save Our Schools! banner supported by the Campaign For Public Education - will also be approaching the Board.  They are threatened with the loss of their neighbourhood schools, which are on the chopping block as a result of a corrupt Area Review (ARC) process, which denies communities any real say about what will happen to their schools.  These parents are also there to demand a freeze on all school closings - a demand that resonates not only here in Toronto but across Ontario as the province continues to experience major education cutbacks from the McGuinty government. Their leaflet is also attached. And, like the Queen's Park parents, they also need your support. Holding on to our neighbourhood schools is crucial for a school system we can honestly call our own. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FREEZE SCHOOL CLOSINGS FLYER

      We hope to see you all at 6 pm at the Toronto District School Board, 5050 Yonge Street, Wednesday, June 23.

     In solidarity,

     George Martell and Faduma Mohamed
     Co-chairs, Education Action: Toronto