November 13, 2006 – Elections Matter

For the past ten years, Ontario district school boards have been a critical and often last line of defence of Ontario’s elementary and secondary school system.  Yet voter turnout for school board elections is typically rather low – about 30%.1 This needs to change.  All Ontario voters should care about our education system, ensuring all children become active citizens in our democracy.

The Ontario government is currently boasting a $300 million budget surplus.  We need to elect school board trustees who will tell Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberals to fix the funding formula, stop privatization and do away with the Mike Harris-era legacy of cuts and closures.

The Mike Harris Years

During the Mike Harris years, the Conservative government implemented significant changes to Ontario’s education system.  These changes drastically disempowered both school boards and school board trustees.

Disarming the Opposition

When the number of school boards was reduced from 129 to 72 there was a sharp reduction in the number of school board trustees – the very people who are elected to stand up for Ontario’s school system.  Harris capped the “salaries” of school board trustees at $5,000 per year, ensuring that few of the remaining trustees would be able to advocate for Ontario’s kids on a full-time basis.

The Harris Tories went even further by adopting legislation that would dismiss (and disqualify from holding office for five years) any school board trustee who failed to implement an edict of the provincial government, regardless of the views of local students, teachers, staff and parents.  Under the new regime, school board trustees choosing to run a deficit, rather than close schools, cut programming or close swimming pools, could also be held personally liable for a school board budget deficit.