(Queen’s Park): GPO leader Mike Schreiner is calling on the Liberal
government to establish a public commission to explore merging the
public and Catholic school boards.
“The Liberals have a clear choice,” says Schreiner. “Prioritize high-quality education for all kids or protect the entrenched interests that want special funding for one religion at the exclusion of all others.”
With schools facing
financial and social pressures, the GPO believes now is the time to
engage public discussion on modernizing Ontario’s education system.
The
GPO believes inaction is failing our kids. At a time when parents
across the province are rallying to prevent school closures, the Toronto
District School Board is considering cuts to cafeterias, educators,
mental health professionals, and support staff. Further, Catholic
Trustees are opposing student efforts to stop bullying with Gay-Straight
Alliance (GSA) clubs. Ontario can no longer turn a blind eye to
wasteful duplication that compromises quality education and fails to
protect at-risk youth.
“The Green Party has the courage to
confront social and financial realities,” says education critic and
Parry Sound-Muskoka candidate Matt Richter. “Greens want to end
expensive duplication and promote an equitable education system where
every religion is respected, and no religion is privileged.”
Both
Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador modernized their outdated
denominational school systems in the 1990’s. The days of needing to
publicly fund Catholic schools to protect a minority religion from
discrimination or assimilation are long past.
The GPO believes
there is no longer justification for maintaining a separate school
system when we face cuts to essential services. The government has
never studied the costs of a separate system. However, the Federation of
Urban Neighbourhoods of Ontario estimates savings of $1.3 billion to
$1.6 billion.
The GPO encourages Premier McGuinty to follow his
own advice:
"If we're going to bring about more improvement in publicly-funded schools, it is regressive to contemplate segregating our children according to their faith," McGuinty said. "I want our kids to continue coming together."
The GPO supports a single public
education system with French and English school boards that prioritize
helping all our diverse students meet their full potential.
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