Now is the time to protect what is really important -- and to be willing to part with what is not. 02/12/2012
Friends. This Wednesday, Feb 15th, is the scheduled release date for the Drummond report. Mr. Drummond was tasked with examining all areas of government spending, identifying unnecessary and duplicate expenditures. It is hard to imagine that he could miss the massive duplication and overlap in our school system. We are confident that any competent and thorough examination of provincial programs would not fail to notice this and point it out. Of greater concern to us than the possibility the waste in our education system could be overlooked is the relative certainty that Dalton McGuinty and company will summarily reject any recommendation to deal with it. He has already said, at least twice that we know of, that he will not even consider any recommendation to eliminate public funding for Catholic separate schools. That is unfortunate, as it all but ensures that austerity measures affecting our truly essential services will cut deeper than necessary. There will be unnecessary pain. Eliminating public funding for Catholic schools would not genuinely hurt anyone. It would only result in Ontario Catholics having to take personal responsibility for the religious upbringing of their children. It would only result in them being treated the same as every one of us who is not an Ontario Catholic. Not eliminating that funding, however, will guarantee greater pain elsewhere -- probably in services that families cannot easily provide on their own. Be alert for letter opportunities this week and beyond. If you’ve never written letters to the editor, now is a good time to start. See our letters page for ideas. The Drummond report will be very big news. Civil servants could face layoffs, wage freezes, unpaid days off, or outsourcing. They might be interested to know that as this happens, unnecessary spending on religious schools for a single favoured faith continues. Vested interests will be lobbying furiously as the government decides where the axe will fall. We need to point out the difference between essential and non-essential programs at every opportunity. We need to point out that public funding for Catholic schools is not essential! Please rise to the challenge. It is time fairness and fiscal responsibility came to education in Ontario. Education Equality in Ontario CommentsPaula 02/13/2012 4:03am
I read this weekend that full day JK is a suggested cut. I think that's a luxury we can't afford, too. But if the government decides to eliminate this somewhat useful program and keep the truly useless catholic school system it'll be more proof of the serve catholic wants above all else attitude. Yes it sounds like full day kindergarten will be a recommended cut and letters suggesting that Catholic schools be cut in its place would be a good idea. Such letters could be written now based on current news articles. Howard 02/16/2012 5:52am
I do not understand how the Drummond report doesn't touch the duplicate school system model in Ontario. This is such an obvious waste I really don't understand how it could not be in there. Is there anyway that Mr. Drummond can be asked about this omission? Catherine 03/04/2012 7:00pm
I am wondering if you can create a template letter that members of the public can copy and past and send to their local MPP's. 03/05/2012 3:32am
That is something I've been considering for a while. Perhaps now is a good time. Leave a Reply | AuthorVarious, OneSchoolSystem.org ArchivesCategoriesAll |
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