End duplication before cutting our children’s education

Kitchener-Waterloo – Green Party of Ontario candidate Dr. Stacey Danckert was joined by Leader Mike Schreiner in Kitchener to outline the Green Party’s plan to strengthen Ontario’s school system by ending wasteful duplication in the public and Catholic boards.

“With the issue of school cuts dominating these by-elections, the choice for voters is clear,” says Schreiner. “Prioritize high-quality education for all children or protect the interests that want special funding for one religion at the exclusion of all others. Only the Green Party will fight to improve our children’s education with a fair and equitable school system.”

At the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) general meeting in Toronto yesterday members voted in favour of a motion that would see public funding of public education in Ontario be limited to secular schools. Only the GPO is calling for a public commission to study merging the Catholic and public systems. 

Ontario is the only province that provides full public funding for a single faith while providing no funding for other faith-based schools. As a result the UN Human Rights Committee has censured Canada  in 1999 and 2005 for the discrimination in Ontario’s school system.

“McGuinty has repeatedly slammed the door on talking about this issue. Instead he continues to ram the Liberals’ political agenda down the throats of parents and teachers,” continued Schreiner. “Our children deserve a fair and equitable system regardless of their faith or sexual orientation.”

Recently Catholic Schools have come under fire for discouraging Gay Straight Alliances, student-run clubs that promote tolerance for diversity.

“The McGuinty Liberals are quick to place the burden on teachers and have failed to recognize how wasteful our system is,” added Danckert.

A study prepared by William J. Phillips, Past-President of The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods of Ontario Inc. estimates savings from merging the school boards of $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion per year.

“It’s time to demand a better solution for our children and this province’s future,” added Dancket. “As your first Green MPP in Queen’s Park I will not let the other parties evade this issue any longer.”

KEEP THE FAITH—BUT NOT IN OUR SCHOOLS

The Canadian Secular Alliance and its allies are hosting a rally in front of the Legislature at Queen's Park on Sunday September 18 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. to demand:

• The end of the over $500 million taxpayer subsidization for the promotion of the Roman Catholic religion. Public funding for the expensive duplicate school system must be eliminated to provide one secular publicly funded school system.

• The protection of equality rights for all students—including gay students—by ending the constitutional privilege afforded Roman Catholics to overrule legislation and the courts in favour of religious dogma.

"Equality for all students means ending privileged access to public schools for favoured religious services," says CSA President Greg Oliver.

Speakers represent a cross section of the religious and non-religious.

More information: http://secularalliance.ca

Petition to Amalgamate Ontario's School System

Mark Daye, GPO Toronto Ctr.

I've started a petition to amalgamate the two school systems in Ontario. Eleven years ago, in 1999 the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated that Ontario's policy on education was wrong and yet we still have separate schools systems today.




It's time to change that.

As CBC reported on November 5, 1999; The United Nations human rights committee says Ontario's policy of fully funding Roman Catholic schools, while denying full funding to other religious schools, is discriminatory.

In moving to comply with the ruling Ontario could do one of two things; extend funding to other religious schools, or end funding to Roman Catholic schools.

Please sign the petition and circulate widely. It's time for real equality in Ontario!

http://www.change.org/petitions/ontario-government-amalgamate-the-taxpayer-funded-catholic-and-public-school-boards

Stop Funding Religious Schools: CCLA

Ontario’s schools are among the most diverse, tolerant and respectful of any schools in the world. Our public schools bring children together, regardless of wealth, status, race, religion, and ethnicity. Our public schools bring communities together.

In the Ontario election, a proposal has been put forward to publicly fund faith-based schools. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the undersigned call upon all political parties to reject the proposal to fund religious schools, and to work to strengthen our public education system and to ensure that it continues to reflect the diversity of our communities.

Public funding of religious schools will drain resources from the public system and promote private schools at the expense of public schools. It will fragment and divide our system along religious lines. The sheer costs of funding many religious schools would likely reduce the quality of the entire educational system.

If the funding proposal goes ahead, public schools could lose significant numbers of students to religious schools. If this were to happen, the public schools could no longer hope to perform their role in bringing people together. In time, our community could become a much less tolerant place.

Our public education system strives to acknowledge, accommodate and celebrate the diversity of faiths in our multicultural society. Our public schools have shown flexibility and creativity in responding to the changing face of our communities, while playing a vital role in integrating many cultures.

We call on political parties and candidates to affirm their commitment to building a strong public education system, and to reject the proposal to fund private religious schools. Together, let’s continue to build a public education system that is responsive to the needs of all faiths, cultures and communities, and makes Ontario an example of social tolerance and harmony.

Click here for the CCLA statement.

EDUCATION EQUALITY FOR ONTARIO

CLICK HERE NOW!