A Message From Education Action: Toronto

October 26, 2009

Dear Friends,

     The Toronto District School Board is pulling in opposite directions these days. At least, that's how it appears in Director Chris Spence's new Power Point slide show called Vision of Hope! on the TDSB website.

     On the one hand, Spence calls for "Full-Service Schools" and all kinds of community engagement.

     On the other hand, he calls for twelve Accommodation Review Committees (ARCs) (8 now, 4 later) affecting as many as 50 schools or more - a process that every school community involved knows is the preamble to the closure of a school in their group. Furthermore, as Louise Brown points out in today's Toronto Star (see "Neediest to pay the price"), of the 36 schools involved in the first 8 ARCs, "26 score on the top half of the Learning Opportunities Index, the provincial poverty yardstick used to measure the needs of each school's population, from family income and parents' education to the percentage of those who live in apartments or are new to Canada ... Twenty of the schools score in the top third of the index, and 16 score among the most needy 25 per cent."
    
     How, you may wonder, do "Full-Service Schools" and community engagement fit with such a process? Aren't school closures destructive of sustainable community development, especially in poor neighbourhoods? Won't "Full-Service Schools" only thrive in schools where there is "surplus" space available for these other community services?

     Why not use the ARC process to develop genuine school-community hubs now that declining enrolment gives us the chance to do so? Check out David Clandfield's Power Point slides discussing how a progressive model of School Community Hubs can be seen as the alternative to school closings. Go to http://educationactiontoronto.com/home/hubs-not-hulks and click to download the presentation.

     You should also check out the most recent additions to the Education Action: Toronto wesbite: www.educationactiontoronto.com

     * Dudley Paul's brief to the Ontario Legislature on Bill 177
     * Doug Little's response to Chris Spence's school for boys
     * Antoni Shelton on keeping armed police out of our schools
     * Monty Neill's broadside on standardized testing American style
     * Janet Bojti's introduction to the education workers union
     * Trevor Norris on commercialization at the TDSB
     * David Clandfield's critique of the new vogue in "financial literacy"

     We also hope you'll read our policy and issues sections carefully and continue to let us know what you think. And give us your suggestions on how to expand our "great programs for all kids" section.

     Education Action: Toronto will only work with your help.

     In solidarity,

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


This email was sent by Education Action: Toronto
1698 Gerrard St. East,
Toronto, On. M4L 2B2