Shelley Laskin, Ward 11
Week of May 5
Upcoming Events:
Social Media 101 – Tuesday, May 21 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Forest Hill Jr/Sr Public School
You are invited to join with Forest Hill Jr/Sr parents for a presentation about Social Media and Youth. The guest speaker is Chris Vollum.
“Who’s in charge here anyway” presentation - Wednesday, May 29 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Hodgson Sr PS. Hodgson Sr PS has arranged for an amazing guest speaker, Alyson Schafer. Alyson is one of Canada’s leading parenting experts. She will present on avoiding power struggles with our children. Her topic is “Who’s in charge here anyway” It will be a great evening and the community is invited to join Hodgson parents.
Items of Interest from the Provincial Budget Tabled May 2, 2013
Education Infrastructure
Over the next three years, the Province plans to provide about $3.6 billion in capital grants to school boards to build better places to learn. This includes recently announced funding to build and renovate almost 90 schools across the province as well as funding to support the creation of extra classrooms to accommodate the full-day kindergarten program, which will be fully implemented by September 2014. Planned investments in Ontario's elementary and secondary schools support more than 10,000 jobs on average each year over the next three years.
School Board Efficiencies and Modernization
Ontario's education system is ranked among the best in the world and progress must continue. The achievements in educational excellence are a result of collaborative efforts between the government and its education partners. The Province will continue to engage teachers, support staff, principals and school boards to protect the progress made in the sector and build on its remarkable achievements to prepare Ontario students for the labour demands of the future.
To achieve long-term sustainability in school board funding, the government will introduce an efficiencies and modernization savings strategy. The Ministry of Education will engage education stakeholders and will work with school boards on the strategy. Savings under this strategy will start in the 2014–15 school year.
Labour
The government will continue working with all of its education partners to establish a more effective bargaining process going forward. Part of that process will be informed by a review of collective-bargaining best practices. In addition, the government will consult with bargaining agents and employer groups across the broader public sector on how best to move towards more efficient and effective bargaining, including the creation of sectoral tables, where appropriate.
Going forward, compensation costs must be addressed within Ontario's existing fiscal framework, which includes no funding for incremental compensation increases for new collective agreements. The government is confident that broader public sector partners can work together to achieve outcomes that remain within the fiscal plan while protecting services. In future rounds of bargaining, the government is willing to work with employers and bargaining agents to look at mechanisms such as productivity improvements as a way to achieve fiscal and service-delivery goals.
Student Achievement: Closing the Gaps
Better student achievement will give all young people the tools they need to succeed in the future labour market.
The government is providing funding to support targeted approaches that focus on closing the achievement gap among struggling students. Research shows that quality learning experiences for children in the summer can narrow the gap in developing those important literacy and numeracy skills that are critical for success later in life. The government is providing $12.6 million over three years, starting in 2013–14, to support the expansion of summer learning programs. These programs give primary students who live in lower income communities and are experiencing academic challenges, the opportunity to improve their reading, writing and math skills over the summer months. These programs have proven to be effective in reversing summer learning loss for participating students.
In the 2013–14 school year, the government will continue its investment in projects that support the implementation of the First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework. The goal of the framework is to increase Aboriginal student achievement and help close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. The government will continue to explore strategies to support the successful transition of First Nation students from on-reserve to provincially funded schools. In addition to the over $45 million in ongoing support, the government will provide $5 million per year to improve student achievement for Aboriginal students.
