The election of long time trustee Eden Haythornthwaite to board chair, signals a dramatic shift in politics for the Cowichan school board. Haythonwaite is accustomed to being an oppositional trustee, often having her motions quashed. She has routinely voted against cuts to classrooms and her dedication to fighting for education has finally paid off. Haythonwaite is now working with a solid group of trustees that are eager to make changes. At last Wednesday’s meeting the trustees “passed motions to honour all delegation requests, allow for comments during question period, and support teachers’ demands during ongoing negotiations, among others.” Read more in the Cowichan News Leader.
Centre for Civic Governance
The Centre for Civic Governance works to support community leadership meeting today’s social and environmental challenges: climate change, Canada’s increasing equity gap, and shifting social trends. At the Centre for Civic Governance, our goal is to strengthen Canadian communities through sharing best practices, providing tools for locally elected leaders, and progressive policy analysis. We strive to provide knowledge and information to make real and positive social change.
City of Toronto proposing major cuts to school board funding
A recent announcement that all city boards including school boards will be facing budget cuts of ten percent came as a surprise to many Toronto school boards. Two of the city’s largest boards had just met with the Mayor’s office to discuss coordination of services and cost saving measures days before the cuts were announced and nothing was mentioned. Meal programs and rent subsidies for daycare spaces are likely the first items to be cut. Read more in the Globe and Mail.
NFB film shows how Toronto’s apartment towers can be revitalized
Enlisting architects, animators and more importantly residents, an NFB film titled One Millionth Tower, provides ideas for revitalizing Toronto’s aging highrises. Some of the ideas include eliminating first floor apartments to make room for cafes and businesses, creating a marketspace, and networks and paths linking to the towers to parks and community gardens. Residents featured in the documentary were awarded a grant to build a new park, a first step in realizing their vision. The film is one of several documentaries featuring Toronto’s apartment housing stock in a series titled Highrise.
Education twice as cost effective in reducing crime as incarceration – Report
A new UBC study titled “Education and Crime over the Life Cycle,” examines the impact of education levels on reducing property crimes. Co-author Giovanni Gallipoli explains,
“Our findings suggest that keeping kids in school, making them employable and improving their value in the labour market is nearly twice as cost-effective at reducing crime as simple incarceration,” he said. “People commit property crime for economic reasons, so providing more economic opportunities through education and employment can reduce the incentives for people to engage in criminal behaviour.”
Read more in the Vancouver Sun
Ontario Schools may start collecting data on language and ethnicity
Ontario’s auditor general is suggesting that school administrators start collecting data on students’ ethnicity, language and socio-economic status. The suggestion comes as several US states have found success in targeting programs to specific ethnic groups to raise graduation rates. The information would not be made public, but it could help administrators to fund and design specific programs. Read more in the Toronto Sun.
Prisons filled with the mentally ill
As the Conservatives are getting ready to pass their omnibus crime bill, a report released by the Canadian Psychiatric Association reveals that more than 1 in 10 male inmates and nearly one in three female inmates held in federal penitentiaries have mental illness. The number has climbed steadily alongside the closure of mental institutions across the country. With the passing of the Omnibus crime bill, prison populations will increase. Prisons currently do not have the trained staff or the resources to provide treatment to the mentally ill. Despite the lack of resources within prisons, the Conservatives rejected a motion by the Liberals to ensure provision of trained staff for mentally ill inmates in their new crime bill. Read more in the Globe and Mail.
What will it cost if the world warms 3.5 degrees?
Current emissions reductions targets are likely to create a warming of 3.5°C by 2020, far below the original pledge of 2°C lower. The Climate Action Tracker has done an analysis that shows what the financial and environmental risks are. The tracker is continually updating according to the latest information available. What the current analysis shows is that “for every US$1 of investment not spent on reducing emissions in the power sector before 2020 an additional US$4.3 would need to be spent after2020 to compensate for the increased emissions. – International Energy Agency’s “World Energy Outlook 2011.”
Download Briefing Paper for Durban.
Canadian cities considering Safety barriers on trucks
Several Canadian municipalities are looking at outfitting their trucking fleets with safety barriers. Cycling and pedestrian deaths from heavy trucks has gone down in Europe since guards have been implemented. The barriers cost approximately $1500 and Toronto councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker believes rails should be required despite the costs; “all of us accept today that seat belts and airbags should be mandatory,” said Mr. De, who regularly cycles 20 kilometres to work. “[Side guards] would protect people’s lives.” Read more in the Globe and Mail.
Education trends in Canada
According to the Globe and Mail, iPads, bring your own computer devices and twitter are the latest trends in education, while cursive writing and long division are going out of style. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of research validating computers over other basic skills. In fact, in the heart of Silicon Valley, many computer executives are sending their children to the Waldorf School, where computers are not used. Waldorf schools rely on traditional teaching techniques along with play. Proponents argue, that teacher student engagement is what really matters and that technology is easy to learn and it can wait.
Read article on education trends in the Globe
Read article on the Silicon Valley Based Waldorf School in the New York times.
Canada wins several Fossil of the Day Awards
Canada is becoming infamous for promoting the tar sands at the expense of climate change commitments. At the recent climate talks in Durban South Africa, Canada won four Fossil awards. Read more at the Climate Action Network.
Edmonton passes sexual orientation and gender identity policy
Edmonton is the first Alberta school board to develop a policy to make schools welcoming and safe for “students, staff and families who identify or are perceived as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, queer or questioning their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.” Read more in the Edmonton Journal.
School Boards raising concern about lack of fairness with BC’s carbon offset program
All BC public institutions are legislated to be carbon neutral. To achieve this they have no choice but to purchase carbon offsets. Those offsets must be purchased from the Pacific Carbon Trust, a crown corporation that charges much more than any other offset company. Pacific Carbon Trust purchases offsets from industry and then sells them to public insttitutions. While some school boards would like to purchase offsets from other companies at a much lower rate, other boards would like to grant money so that schools can afford to do retrofitting and other green initiatives themselves. Read more in the Vancouver Sun.