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The Victoria Public Education Coalition (VPEC) -The who & the what


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#1 think local

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Posted 31 October 2008 - 07:35 PM

What is VPEC?

The Victoria Public Education Coalition (VPEC) is a community advocacy group that stands up and speaks up for:
  • Fully-funded, quality, public education that provides resources adequate for student learning needs.
  • Public education as a public asset, protected from privatization.
  • Democratic accountability, open governance, and inclusion in school district decision making.
VPEC is not affiliated with any political party. It intends to represent a wide variety of community interests.
What does VPEC do?

  • Raises awareness of public education issues in our community through public forums, news media, and other channels
  • Builds the support of groups and individuals in our community to respond to threats to public schools
  • Insists on open governance and community involvement in School Board decision making
Join VPEC!

  • Work with VPEC by helping to organize community forums, elect school trustees firmly committed to defending public education, and build support and networks in our community.
  • Receive updates of VPEC news, events, activities and a report from Victoria School Board meetings.
Our Platform

Oppose all School Fees and Private Ventures
in the Public System


  • Universal access to all programs and services without cost
  • Eliminate school fees without loss of programs
  • No to the contracting out of district services
  • Re-evaluate the role of volunteering and fundraising
Develop a Community Budget

  • Full community participation in the budgeting process
  • Determine the level of public funding that meets the actual needs of the school district
  • End the deliberate starving of the public school system
  • Demand full funding for staff wage increases from the Ministry
  • Revaluate administrative positions, salaries, and perks
  • Demand full funding for Ministry initiatives, such as Daily Physical Activity
Full Partnership with First Nations
Communities and Families


  • Actively advance the goals of the Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement with School District 61
  • Strengthen the new relationship between Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations and the school community
Defend Community Diversity and Public Space

  • Maintain small schools
  • Oppose closures and property sales
  • Support community use of school facilities
  • Let school communities decide on grade configurations
Restore Quality Learning Environments
Support Just Working Conditions


  • Restore smaller class sizes
  • Renew commitment for students with special needs including the restoration of Ministry allocated funding, timely evaluations, and therapeutic programs
  • Return classroom support for children with behavioural difficulties
  • Increase support for school and district educational resources, including library and counselling time
  • Reinstate staffing levels for maintenance, secretarial, custodial, and transportation services
  • Support local free collective bargaining
Show Confidence in our Teachers

  • Support for teacher-developed curriculum that is not driven by testing
  • Encourage critical thinking and joy of learning
  • Affirm the autonomy and professionalism of teachers
  • Rebuild collaborative decision-making at the school level
Advance Community and Staff Involvement
in District Decision-Making


  • Open all School Board meetings to the public
  • Create a public record of Trustee votes at School Board meetings
  • Provide regular reporting of Board meetings to the community
  • Full collaboration between community, trustees, staff, and administrators
  • Involve community and staff in district planning and curriculum development
  • Increase community and staff involvement in Board committees


#2 think local

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Posted 31 October 2008 - 07:42 PM

VPEC is bringing the campaign to keep public education public to the November 15th School Board elections.
We are supporting these candidates for School Board Trustee:

Cathrine Alpha
Starla Anderson
Tamara Malczewska


In brief, here is where we and these candidates stand:
every child matters
  • smaller class sizes
  • full support for students with special needs
schools for communities
  • no public school closures
access for all children
  • full public funding for all programs
*Note: Catherine Alpha's bio will be posted on the vpec.org website shortly.

#3 masiyou

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Posted 07 November 2008 - 06:53 PM

How does the VPEC intend to Eliminate school fees without loss of programs?

#4 davek

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Posted 08 November 2008 - 10:27 PM

^More taxpayer money. The only community group for which VPEC advocates is the one that profits from public schooling, which VPEC confuses with public education. They are advocating policies which greatly restrict accountability, parental choice, and competition. Perhaps they hope that no one has noticed that despite massive funding increases over the decades, public schools have failed improve student performance to any noticeable degree.

#5 Jessica Van der Veen

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 04:19 PM

In 2000 this provincial government cut capital funding for public education in half – from $450 million per annum to $225 million. Operating funds were also slashed. The province loosened the criteria for designation so that special needs children have to be in extreme distress before they qualify for extra help. The province exaggerated the temporary dip in enrolment to justify cuts – even as the echo-boomers began having babies. The province recently dictated that private schools be included in consultations about the fate of public school lands. Class sizes have increased, schools have closed and I could go on, but really what counts is that funding for universal public education has dropped from 6.2% of GDP to 5.1% of GDP in the past 8 years. Put another way, funding suffered huge cuts in 2000 and has only been increased about 1% per annum since then. But inflation has been running between 2 and 3 % -- so really cuts have continued on what was already a slashed budget.

Still, you may ask: why do we need a VPEC? Well, because through these cuts and losses trustees have simply not spoken out enough and not advocated strenuously enough for the future of universal public education.

The more current trustees have adapted to neglect and deprivation, the more the province has cut.


#6 Jessica Van der Veen

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 04:24 PM

Gradually -- through lobbying the province for more funding for universal public education. It will be gradual so as not to upset programming that is already working. We did not get into this funding shortage quickly, and we need to work our way out carefully. Some creative innovations have come from this deprivation that are worth preserving. But there are also big problems, most notably with class composition and these simply require more funding and staffing. No way around it.

Public education is the strongest predictor of a society's social, physical and economic health and advocating for universal public education is the same as advocating for the future of every citizen.

#7 LJ

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 04:32 PM

Well at least by identifying the VPEC candidates, I know who NOT to vote for.

Bring in a voucher system and encourage the establishment of more private schools.

Anything that would bring an end to the fiefdom of the teachers union is a good thing, for students, for parents, and for taxpayers.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#8 think local

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 04:58 PM

Well at least by identifying the VPEC candidates, I know who NOT to vote for.

Bring in a voucher system and encourage the establishment of more private schools.

Anything that would bring an end to the fiefdom of the teachers union is a good thing, for students, for parents, and for taxpayers.


First, the Victoria Public Education Coalition is NOT a teacher’s group and although may have initially been organized by a small group of teachers concerned with the status quo of this current board, it quickly grew into a diverse community group, all sharing the same concerns with the status of public education and wanting a change at the board level, change that would challenge the provincial government and fight for the restoration of fully funded public education.

You want a voucher system and more private schools? I'd say if that's the case then no, you wouldn't want to vote for VPEC candidates because they'll NOT be advocating for either.

#9 think local

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 05:09 PM

The voucher system is not one that proves itself successful, certainly not in the US which Canada seems to be attempting to emulate maybe for a few fortunate kids be it leaves masses behind...funny how the No Child Left Behind leaves more behind that it brings forward.

This excerpt from one blog sharing the negatives of a system you suggest successful: For years, proponents of vouchers have held up examples of students who have benefitted under the voucher subsidies. This debate gives a pretty clear picture of the impact nationwide. The story reports:
“Nationwide, there are 21 school-choice voucher and tax-credit programs that serve approximately 200,000 students. Since 2004, nine new school-choice programs have been enacted in Georgia, Utah, Ohio, Arizona, Rhode Island and Washington D.C. These 21 programs are ranked in a February 2007 Milton Friedman Foundation report (PDF) that evaluates how well they live up to the late economist’s gold standard for school choice. These programs include the 17-year-old voucher program enacted by the Wisconsin Legislature, which serves about 18,500 students in 122 private schools; Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program, in which 25,000 special education students use vouchers to attend the school of their choice; and Arizona’s voucher program for foster children.”
I’m very happy about the children who have been helped through these programs, but these statistics show the very reason that vouchers as a mainstream solution don’t work. The total number of children helped by these combined voucher programs is only a drop-in-the-bucket compared to the overwhelming needs of disadvantaged children, not to mention under-educated students, across the country.
Vouchers do NOTHING to improve troubled schools. Yes, a small percentage of students benefit, but the majority are left behind in schools that are not functioning AND have resources further depleted so the remaining students are even worse off than before. Why can’t all these people who are pushing for vouchers see that we NEED TO FIX SCHOOLS INSTEAD? Are we willing to place improvement emphasis on only a small percentage of students? Or should we bankrupt the entire United States by having a universal voucher system?
In “Set Our TeachersFREE! A Plan to Save Public Education”, Don Kingsland offers a plan that includes vouchers only in emergency situations, such as the need to get a child out of a threatening environment (home or school). Instead, The Kingsland Plan offers solutions for making ALL schools good. Doesn’t that make more sense?
As long as we choose to ignore educational problems on a nationwide basis, then we will be left with stop-gap measures that benefit only those few lucky enough to be a part of that particular program.
We need to Straighten-Out Our Public Schools NOW! Piece-meal and stop-gap solutions are as useless in the long term as sticking a piece of bubble gum in the crack in the wall of the dam. Let’s apply some common sense solutions to the problems in our public schools and help ALL students have a better chance.
Brennan
The Kingsland Plan
Save Our Schools


#10 Jessica Van der Veen

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 07:28 PM

Vouchers eh? A blast from the past.

Universal public education is the foundation of our society, our economy and our democracy. Lucky us to be able to write to each other -- thanks public education!

The OECD tells us that the strongest predictor of economic stability in both the long and short term is universal public education. In fact, it is also the strongest predictor of public health -- so it saves us a fortune in health care costs. You can educate and love kids when they are young or you can put them in jail when they grow up. You can create a healthy, educated workforce, which attracts quality employers -- or you can send quality jobs overseas and just keep the lousy ones.

Every child must have access to quality public education so they can have the best chance at building a rich, loving productive and creative life -- with the ability to contribute to their fellow human beings. It is the most compassionate, socially and economically responsible thing to do.

#11 Caramia

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 07:44 PM

I am absolutely in favour of a robust, and well funded public education system, but my major question to candidates for the board of trustees isn't touched by the literature.

My experience in working with the province is that putting pressure on them through shaming, blaming, or other forms of hostility rarely works, regardless of how well founded it is. I'd vote based on which candidates have the best track record of working with the province, who has the most connections within the administration, and who is best able to "help them help us" as it were. But looking at the info available, I can't differentiate between candidates who can find ways to cooperate and the ones who think that yelling louder will get more results.

I do take this seriously, but I am afraid of casting the wrong vote.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

#12 Jessica Van der Veen

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 07:52 PM

Good one! We need civil discourse with the province -- but popping a little letter of concern into a Ministry file once a year just doesn't cut it any more. And agreeing to sell public school lands doesn't cut it either.

Trouble is, the situation is a bit dire because of the sale of public school lands. We can have civil discourse, but once those lands are sold, that's the ball game for public ed. So we need to elect candidates who would never vote to sell public school lands -- and then we can talk to the province. I am confident that Starla, Catherine and Tamara would never vote to sell and school. They are civil folk, so they surely will find a way to converse with the gov.

Don't forget, Victoria Public Education will be supporting candidates at all levels of government -- candidates we believe support public education. So this election is the beginning....

#13 Caramia

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 07:57 PM

Selling land makes no sense at all for long term institutions. Can you imagine what this land will be worth in 100 years? Do we anticipate there will still be schools around by then? Why the hell would any educational institution even consider it? If they can't use it then maybe a long term lease is in order, but that's it. The University should learn this lesson too.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

#14 LJ

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 08:34 PM


You want a voucher system and more private schools? I'd say if that's the case then no, you wouldn't want to vote for VPEC candidates because they'll NOT be advocating for either.


Exactly! Makes it so much easier choosing candidates to vote for.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#15 LJ

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 08:52 PM

Every child must have access to quality public education .



Yeah - unfortunately they are thwarted in this by the teachers union blocking every effort to measure their (the kids) performance, or their (the teachers) performance.

Unless and until you are willing to get rid of teachers that are ineffectual, the product coming out the end will not change.

If all the kids that went to private schools were in the public system everybody's taxes would increase dramatically.

If you encourage private schools you can reduce the number of kids in the public system, reduce the teacher-pupil ratio and still save money.
Of course you would have to get rid of a few teachers in the public system but unfortunately they would be released in order of seniority rather than order of merit. This of course means you would still wind up with some teachers in the system that should find alternate employment.
But you will never know who they are because they refuse to have their performance graded.

"Quality public education" an oxymoron unfortunately perpetrated by those in the business, more interested in preserving their jobs than preparing the youth of today for the challenges of the real world.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#16 think local

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 09:03 PM

Caramia, I agree, these decisions to sell school lands make no sense.

Even long term leases, which are already occurring in the Victoria District, are an issue and will quickly present themselves as serious trouble spots. These decisions have lacked foresight as enrollment is going to rise drastically again very quickly, the remaining schools will be bursting at the seams. How do you get community businesses out of these buildings when they're needed?

We know already that class size is an issue, not just in terms of meeting student learning needs, but also in terms of health and safety issues. Too many kids in an over crowded classroom. There used to be fire marshal bylaws which determined how many bodies per square foot were safe. Those bylaws were changed when the teachers contract was stripped because it was declared unsafe. And it is unsafe, just imagine those over crowded shop and foods classes, class composition issues becoming a real concern where safety comes before teaching.

We attended the School Trustees Forum last week and plan to attend the next forum which will focus on local issues. This will be a good time to ask these important questions.

At last weeks forum it was very clear that there was an obvious division between candidates. One candidate even stood up to boldly suggest people not be confused, there are two groups running for these positions. One group feels the status quo is fine the way it is, the other group expects and will demand more quality public education.

The first group, in favour of the status quo is made up of Mark Walsh, Jim Holland, Tom Ferris, Michael McEvoy and Elaine Leonard. They have consistently voted to close schools, agreed with over sized classes and ignored composition issues. They suggest that they have a good working relationship with all teachers yet they've not listened to teachers who are crying out about the decline in quality public education. If we can't trust our teachers to let us know when there is a problem why on earth are so many leaving their children with them all day, 5 days a week? I'd suggest it's because we know that teachers have our children's best interest at heart.

The second group of trustee candidates will clearly work hard to keep schools open, to restore class size and composition to a manageable equation, will work to increase programs not eliminate them at the same time as eliminating school fees.

The remark that taxes will be raised if there are no school fees isn't necessarily true and it shouldn't be. This government needs to take a serious look at it's priorities. As was posted by a previous poster, these children are out future and if we're not investing in them in these k-12 years (and earlier), I'd suggest we're not investing in our own country. We want critical thinkers! However in is clear that it would be against the governments best interests to have more critical thinkers

I want more for our children. We're a family that's had to pull our child out of the regular public system, not because we blame teachers but because the criteria for students to qualify for help has changed so that our child falls through the cracks. Although very bright, her learning needs were not able to be met. Teachers had so many other students with pressing needs that were more obvious, they didn't have time and she was falling drastically behind. We didn't want our child to lose out because our province doesn't adequately fund public ed. It's been a great expense for our family in tutoring, extra community activities, etc BUT we're more than willing to go to bat for trustee candidates who will stand up for quality education. We tell everyone we can about the progressive candidates such as those running, endorsed by VPEC because we think BC's public education system can be the best in the world BUT we need to stand up for it, restore it and expect the province to fully fund public education. Let's face it, our provincial government of late hasn't made public education a priority yet they're wasting billions on the Olympics and then there's the secret deals for Olympic condos (admittedly I haven't read enough on this new situation but have heard enough to know that our premier isn't making wisest of decisions.)

I strongly recommend Starla Anderson, Tamara Malczewska and Catherine Alpha. They're firm believers in protecting and restoring quality public education.

#17 mat

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Posted 09 November 2008 - 10:55 PM

to think local, and others...

While the BC educational system needs financial help, and the oversight of groups like VPEC is helpful, what we experience is far better than even the EU.

Our son was born downs syndrome in Belgium, and the medical care was phenomenal (a lesson to Canada). What lacked was education - all children were classified based on central government assessments. Based on that, you were assigned schools, and of course private schools would not take 'special needs'. The only option for us was a state school that 'took in' all the typified children considered outside of graduation norms. From Kindergarten to grade 3 our son was subjected to simple life skills and entertainment, in a non-integrated system.

Moving here was enlightenment - the local elementary had only a few months warning, and rallied with staff, resources and communication. The recent graduation to a middle school has been seamless, and the real desire to integrate special needs kids with the classroom is an ideal of the staff, and I seriously hope of all education advocates.

#18 think local

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Posted 10 November 2008 - 01:02 AM

Mat, I'm sorry that this difference exists. My experience is that our public education system is heading quickly in that same direction and we need to stop it.

LJ, I don't think I can respond any better than Steve Miller does in the following article. He was here in Victoria recently and spoke of his grave concern for quality public education in our country and hopes we learn from the mistakes made in the US and stand up together as parents, teachers, students, a collective community for universal quality public education for all, not just the elite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exterminating Public Schools in America

by Steven Miller and Jack Gerson

Global Research, March 10, 2008
Educator Roundtable

The "Tough Choices or Tough Times" report of the National Commission on Skills in the Workplace, funded in large part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and signed by a bipartisan collection of prominent politicians, businesspeople, and urban school superintendents, called for a series of measures including:

(a) replacing public schools with what the report called "contract schools", which would be charter schools writ large;

(b) eliminating nearly all the powers of local school boards - their role would be to write and sign the authorizing agreements for the "contract schools;

© eliminating teacher pensions and slashing health benefits; and

(d) forcing all 10th graders to take a high school exit examination based on 12th grade skills, and terminating the education of those who failed (i.e., throwing millions of students out into the streets as they turn 16).

These measures, taken together, would effectively cripple public control of public education. They would dangerously weaken the power of teacher unions, thus facilitating still further attacks on the public sector. They would leave education policy in the hands of a network of entrepreneurial think tanks, corporate entrepreneurs, and armies of lobbyists whose priorities are profiting from the already huge education market while cutting back on public funding for schools and students.

Indeed, their measures would mean privatization of education, effectively terminating the right to a public education, as we have known it. Many of the most powerful forces in the country want the US, the first country to guarantee public education, to be the first country to end it.

For the last fifty years, public education was one of only two public mandates guaranteed by the government that was accessible to every person, regardless of income. Social Security is the other. Now both systems are threatened with privatization schemes. The government today openly defines its mission as protecting the rights of corporations above everything. Thus public education is a rare public space that is under attack.

The same scenario is being implemented with most of the services that governments used to provide for free or at little cost: electricity, national parks, health care and water. In every case, the methodology is the same: underfund public services, create an uproar and declare a crisis, claim that privatization can do the job better, deregulate or break public control, divert public money to corporations and then raise prices.

In the past year, it's become evident that the corporate surge against public schools is only part of a much broader assault against the public sector, against unions, and indeed against the public's rights and public control of public institutions.

This has been evident for some time now in New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina's devastation is used as an excuse for permanently privatizing the infrastructure of a major American city: razing public housing and turning land over to developers; replacing the city's public school system with a combination of charter schools and state-run schools; letting the notorious Blackwater private army loose on the civilian population; and, in the end, forcing tens of thousands of families out of the city permanently. The citizens of New Orleans have had their civil rights forcibly expropriated.

Just as the shock of the hurricane was the excuse for the shock therapy applied to New Orleans, so the economic downturn triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis is now the excuse for a national assault on the public sector and the public's rights. . .

In public education, the corporate surge has grown both qualitatively and quantitatively. Where two years ago the corporate education change agents were mainly operating in a relatively small number of large urban areas, they have now surfaced everywhere. The corporatization of public education is the leading edge of privatization. This has the effect of silencing the public voice on every aspect of the situation.

Across the US, public schools are not yet privatized, though private services are increasingly benefiting from this market. However, increasing corporate control of programs - a different mix in every locale - is having a chilling influence on the very things that people (though not corporations) want from teachers: the ability to relate to and teach each child, a nurturing approach that nudges every child to move ahead, human assessments that put people before performance on standardized tests.

Perhaps the single most dramatic development of the corporate approach was the launching of the $60 million Strong American Schools - Ed in '08 initiative, funded by billionaires Bill Gates and Eli Broad. This is a naked effort to purchase the nation's education policy, no matter who is elected President, by buying their way into every electoral forum.

Ed in '08 has a three-point program: merit pay (basing teachers' compensation on students' scores on high stakes test); national education standards (enforcing conformity and rote learning); and longer school day and school year (still more time for rote learning, less time for kids to be kids. . . )

Where two years ago charter schools were still viewed as experiments affecting a relatively small number of students, in 2007 the corporate privatizers - led by Broad and Gates - grossly expanded their funding to the point where they now loom as a major presence.

In March, the Gates Foundation announced a $100 million donation to KIPP charter schools, which would enable them to expand their Houston operation to 42 schools (from eight) - effectively, KIPP will be a full-fledged alternative school system in Houston. Also in the past year, Eli Broad and Gates have given in the neighborhood of $50 million to KIPP and Green Dot charter schools in Los Angeles, with the aim of doubling the percentage of LA students enrolled in charter schools. Oakland, another Broad/Gates targets, now has more than 30 charter schools out of 92. And, as we shall see below, the same trend holds across the country.

NCLB in 2008 is still a major issue. It continues to have a corrosive effect on public schools. It is designed an unfunded mandate, which means that schools must meet ever rigid standards every year, though no more money is appropriated to support this effort. This means that schools must take ever-more money out of the class room to meet federal requirements when schools with low test scores are in "Program Improvement". Once schools are in PI for 5 years they can be forced into privatization.

NCLB is a driving force that decimates the "publicness" in public schools. In California, more than 2000 schools are now in "Program-Improvement". This means that they have to meet certain specific, and mostly impossible standards, or they must divert increasingly greater amounts of money out of the classroom and into private programs.

For example, schools in 3rd year PI must take money out of programs that helped schools with a high proportion of low achieving schools and make it available to private tutors. . .

Privatizing public schools inevitably leads to a massive increase in social inequality. Private corporations have never been required to recognize civil rights, because, by definition, these are public rights. If the corporate privatizers succeed in taking over our schools, there will be neither quality education nor civil rights.

The system of public education in the United States is deeply flawed. While suburban schools are among the best in the world, public education in cities has been deliberately underfunded and is in shambles. The solution is not to fight backwards to maintain the old system. Rather it is to fight forward to a new system that will truly guarantee quality education as a civil right for everyone.

Central to this is to challenge the idea that everything in human society should be run by corporations, that only corporations and their political hacks have the right or the power to discuss what public policy should be. . .

The real direction is to increase the role and power of the public in every way, not eliminate it. . .

#19 LJ

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Posted 10 November 2008 - 12:00 PM

I too have a "grave concern for quality public education".

And as I stated earlier unless and until you are willing to divest the system of ineffectual, weak, and worse, teachers, that system is doomed to failure. You can't expect a high quality result when your have a low quality teacher. Most of them are no longer proffessionals - they are just union rabble doing whatever can to improve their own lot in life couched in "concern for the needs of the student".

If this were corrected I would wholeheartadly endorse the public system, until then - not so much.

Oh, and I note in an article in the paper today that the VSTA is advising their teachers to reduce or eliminate writing descriptive comments on the students report cards because of their "CRUSHING WORKLOAD".

Give me a break. They wouldn't know a crushing workload if it fell on them. They would never survive in the work a day world because they would actually have to perform and that performance would be measured and graded and they would be paid accordingly.

Oh but they work long days is the lament - maybe true in some cases - but the two weeks off at Christmas, Easter, two months off in the summer, Pro D days, etc. more than make up for that.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#20 think local

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Posted 10 November 2008 - 12:30 PM

LJ, I would encourage you to walk in the shoes of a teacher. Seriously, help volunteer with the lesson planning, the organizing, figure out strategies and then implement them for the ESL student, the Learning Disabled, the grey area student, the average student, the gifted student, the student with profound needs, and then the students with behavioural designations, then teach critical thinking skills...oh yeah, and throw in some of the now seemingly necessary teaching to the test; help those students with organizational issues, communicate with each student and their parent on a regular basis, marking; oh yes, we can't forget organize fundraising; field trips, etc. It would be great if you shadowed a couple of different teachers over their holidays so you could see what really goes on in their lives.

Do you have children and are they in the public system?

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