“Live the life you want to be remembered for.” —Alice Heap

Hard choices ahead

Education won’t be hit as hard as some other sectors, but it will be hit nonetheless. Outside of increases to pay for new all-day kindergarten spaces, funding for education is frozen. And because a 0% increase won’t cover inflation or some unavoidable cost increases, it really means cuts in a number of areas. The overall budget for Grants for Student Needs (GSNs) – funding that goes to school boards to cover core costs of educating students – has been cut by $60 million this year. There will be more cuts to come in the next two or three years.

It is important to remember that funding for education has increased substantially over the last few years. And even this year, faced with calls for cuts to all public services, funding for education has remained relatively stable. But there are a number of hard choices ahead which will include closing schools, amalgamating boards, cutting arts programs and restricting the number of credits students can take in high school.

School closings
Enrolment continues to decline in Ontario, and the province is looking for ways to stop funding so many small or “under-enrolled” schools. [Read more]

High school credits
Starting in the fall of 2013, school boards will no longer receive full per pupil funding for students taking more than 34 credits. [Read more]

Funding for the arts & more
The Program Enhancement Grant is being eliminated. [Read more]

Special Education
There is a slight decline in special education funding, probably due to a decline in enrolment. [Read more]

School operations and renewal
The funding formula will be updated so that newer schools and schools that have undergone substantial renovations will not be funded at the same rate as older schools. [Read more]

Teachers and Other Staff
School boards will receive a 0% increase to fund salaries. [Read more]

Amalgamating school boards
The province plans to amalgamate some school boards in areas with low population growth and declining enrolment. [Read more]

Busing
The province continues to “encourage” boards to work together to save money on student transportation. [Read more]

Continuing education
Funding for programs such as adult education will be slightly reduced. [Read more]

Education funding – other
The budget recommended cuts to grants for programs that are outside the Grants for Student Needs. [Read more]

EQAO
The Education Quality and Accountability Office will have its funding reduced by 2.5%. [Read more]

Aboriginal Education
The province will not provide the top-up funding to on-reserve schools recommended in the Drummond Commission, but it will provide expertise. [Read more]

Curriculum specialists and consultants
Approximately 780 positions for specialist teachers who provide support to classroom teachers will be eliminated. [Read more]

School board administration and governance
Funding for school board administration is being slowly reduced over a number of years. [Read more]

Declining enrolment and geographic circumstances
Funding to help boards adjust to declining enrolment and to cover the costs of small schools spread far apart will be reduced. [Read more]

What’s missing from the funding announcements?
There was no mention of child care, mental health, or support for schools as community hubs in either the provincial budget or in the funding grants for school boards. [Read more]

» Read the full article…

To address that problem, Dr. Christopher Spence, the former B.C. Lions running back and current activist director of education at the Toronto District School Board, stood in front of a classroom of 28 boys at a busy public school on Toronto’s western border and announced his latest plan to increase what he calls “engagement.”

In September, the TDSB will open nine new “elementary academies” inside existing board schools across the city, specializing in vocal music and health and sports, as well as a boys-only and a girls-only school.

“We’re declining,” Dr. Spence conceded, putting the enrolment decrease at about 4,000 students per year. “We want to see what we can do internally differently. We want to retain kids who have been pushed out of schools. We want to broaden the opportunity.”

The academies would follow the provincial curriculum, but include an extra emphasis in their respective areas. Admission would be on a firstcome-first-served basis, with no auditions or qualifications required.

As a backdrop for the announcement, the board chose Humberwood Downs Junior Middle Academy, a 10-year-old school that reflects the ethnic reality of Toronto’s outer suburbs: Of its 1,100 students, just 10 are Caucasian. The parents of many students immigrated from South Asia, which has a tradition of boys-only and girlsonly schools. Even so, the school principal, Beverley Muir, says that was not the main reason she created segregated classes.

“I come here and the middle-school kids are all hormonal, and I asked the question: ‘What do I have to do to have a more focused learning environment?’ ” she says.

This year the school has one Grade 6 class for boys only, and girls-only and boys-only classes in Grade 8.

On Thursday, five Grade 8 girls, wearing their school uniforms (a choice of a vest, golf shirt or sweatshirt in navy blue with the school crest, and blue or black slacks, skinny jeans forbidden) sat in a group of desks in their classroom, preparing to label a world map with statistics on population and literacy rates. The girls, all 13, said they did not choose to be in a single-sex class, but are learning more than they did in Grade 7, when they were in classes with boys, because there is less distraction.

“I think we participate more if we are in an all-girls class,” said Hamdah. “Last year the boys did make fun of girls. They always put you down and tease you.”

“Now, since we got used to an all-girls class, we are more comfortable,” said Alana.

In the boys’ class, André said his teacher, Dion Singh, has kept boys’ attention with a hockey pool (which also helps them with math) and daily physical activity.

Dr. Spence, who wrote two books about the virtues of sexsegregated classrooms, has been working on the boys’ and girls’ academies project for several years.

“I taught a Grade 6 all-boys class at Oakdale Park Middle School, and we had great success,” he says. “This is driven by data. When you look at who we expel, who we suspend, boys are disproportionately represented. Why wouldn’t we scale it up a bit?”

Even as the York Region District School Board earlier this month discussed cancelling its specialized arts program at Baythorn public school – because the audition process raised concerns about inclusivity – Dr. Spence said the TDSB needs to offer a variety of schools.

” When you have 550 schools, they don’t all have to be the same. Sameness is not equal to excellence. I believe the biggest issue isn’t underachievement. It’s disengagement. It is our hope that engagement will increase now.”

THE ACADEMIES

In September 2012, the Toronto District School Board plans to open nine “elementary academies,” each accepting 100 to 150 students, within existing schools across the city.

Sports and Wellness Open to students in Grades K-8, open at Shoreham public school, in the Jane/Finch neighbourhood, at James S. Bell Junior middle school, in Long Branch, and at Carleton Village public school, on St. Clair Avenue West.

Vocal Music Open at Heather Heights public school, off Ellesmere Road in Scarborough, and at Ryerson Community School in Kensington Market.

Health and Wellness “Promoting the development of healthy and active lifestyles” for Grades K-8, open at Donview middle school, near the Don Valley Parkway and York Mills Road, and at Rene Gordon elementary, near Don Mills and York Mills roads.

Girls’ Leadership Academy For Grades 4-6, opens at Highland Heights junior public school, near Finch Avenue and Birchmount Avenue in Scarborough

Boys’ Leadership Academy For Grades 4-6, opens at The Elms junior middle school, north of Highway 401 near Islington Avenue.

» National Post

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