Don’t Miss Education Day, September 20

Below is a message from Ward 8 Trustee Howard Goodman encouraging us all to attend tomorrow’s Education Day debates on September 20. We strongly urge you to attend and show that you care about education.

Dear Eglinton-Lawrence School Council Chairs and Principals,

Your school communities need your help.

Our ability to influence future provincial education policies and funding will in part depend on the turnout of voters at tomorrow’s Education Day debates. A large turnout will indicate that voters are interested in education, and that MPPs, once elected need to pay close attention to parent and community opinions about our schools. A low turnout will do just the opposite.

Some of the issues that the Ministry is currently wrestling with, that will be of importance to your communities:

The amount of involvement parents have in the placement of a Principal in their school

  • The rules and restrictions on parent fund-raising and fees for field trips, technology, and outside programs like “Roots of Empathy”
  • The pressure boards will be put under to sell playing fields to developers to pay for school repairs
  • The measures that will be taken to protect the future of local day-cares in light of shifting markets due to all-day kindergarten
  • The amount of support students with special learning needs will receive
  • The speed of introduction of learning technologies into our schools.

I know that the parents in your school will want to help mold these provincial policies.

The quality of your child’s education hinges on the next Provincial government and Minister of Education getting these policies right.
Showing up at tomorrow’s debate will give us all greater ability to influence the direction of government education policies over the next four years.

Please encourage all of your school community to come to Tuesday’s debate, and show, by their presence, that they care about their schools and their children’s future, through phone calls and emails. Our target is to have at least 20people from each school community.

The Eglinton-Lawrence Education Day debate will be held
Tuesday Sept 20, at 7pm
John Polanyi CI, 640 Lawrence West, just east of the Allen Road
Look forward to seeing you all at the debate
Howard Goodman
Trustee, Ward 8