Comment 17704

By Leisha (anonymous) | Posted January 26, 2008 at 19:01:56

The viability of a school comes down to the number of teachable students. This means that the students have to be citizens; if they are not citizens, than other funding must be in place. There is a strict audit process to ensure that the proper procedures are maintained. There was an article in the Spectator about a year ago regarding an elementary student that was denied an education because her step-father wasn't able to afford her adoption fees.

The school funding was changed under Harris' provincial government which allowed a high ratio of students per teacher. Moreover, the school boards are no longer allowed to tax the feeder neighbourhoods. This cancelled taxing system enabled the Boards to move money from the affluent areas to the poor areas. The Boards only get money from the Ministry and must allocate it as per a special formula. There has been no word by the present government to address this situation.

The problems of the poor neighbourhoods are connected and diverse: ESL, IEPs, limited funding for EAs, challenging curriculum, liability issues, illiteracy of parents, distrust of educators, addiction, poverty, violence... This is not to say that the affluent neighbourhoods don't have these issues; they have more social resources at their disposal.

In the end, it is cheaper to bus students (regardless of the negative effects) to other schools. Teachers, EAs, custodians... are deemed obsolete along with the buildings.

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds