EDUCATION AND APATHY
Ottawa’s school board elections have long been known for voter indifference. Now, a potential candidate shortage takes local apathy to a whole new level. As it stands, the public school board will have contested races in only four of its 12 zones. In Zone 1, which covers Stittsville and the rural western parts of the city, no one has offered to run. The English Catholic board isn’t doing any better, with races in only three of its 10 zones. The deadline to register is July 27.
It’s easy to see why people are reluctant to become trustees. The position entails a lot of meetings and long hours. No one does it for the money, although the $16,000 salary of a public school board trustee is still much more than what’s received by the hundreds of hard-working volunteers who sit on the boards of community organizations.
Part of the problem may be the sense that trustees have become redundant. Back in the days when they were responsible for education taxes, we cared more what they thought. Now, the provincial government sets education tax rates, details how the dollars will be spent, and makes all big policy decisions. Indeed, the new Ontario government just cancelled about $100 million worth of spending on school repairs. Who wants to be a local trustee dealing with the fallout from that?
That doesn’t mean trustees have nothing to do. For one thing, they play an important oversight role in the operation of our schools and are vital links for parents who need help negotiating the complexities of the system.
In the next term of office, public school trustees also will have to deal with a provincial government that wants to change the way math is taught, revise the sex-ed curriculum and change standardized testing. Local voices need to be heard. And even without these added challenges, Ottawa’s public school board trustees are responsible for a budget of nearly $1 billion, 72,000 students and 145 schools. It’s important work.
Ottawa’s public school board trustees have hurt their image through petty infighting and a wrong-headed policy of communicating almost exclusively through the board chair, which dampens public discussion.
If there were ever a group that could use some independent and informed new blood, this is it. More trustees with financial experience wouldn’t hurt, either.
In a system where the provincial government dictates so much of what happens in schools, trustees offer an important counterbalance. We need more good people to step up and champion our public schools.