Here is what you said...

We recently had a great time with Chinese New Year.  My family and I were at a restaurant in Chinatown and my parents were asking me how the campaigning was going.  I explained that things were going really well:  the candidates had been invited to appear at an All Candidate’s Meeting hosted by the HenryFarm Community Interest Association on February 7^th.  My plan was to get to speak to as many people as possible by that date to better grasp how the community was feeling.

There are over 46,000 electors on the voter’s list, as published by the City.  There is no way one person can get out and talk to all of them during a campaign.  My step-mother, Catherine, pointed out that what I should try to do is have people come to you.

And hence, the survey idea was born.

To date I’ve been really happy with the number of respondents and a little surprised with the findings.  Here is a little break down:

70 % of the people that have responded so far are satisfied with the education system today.  However, 14% are very dissatisfied.  We are doing something right but clearly, we aren’t reaching everyone.

The most important issue for the respondents was split equally between two issues: bullying and Full Day Kindergarten.  I’ve posted my thoughts on the Drummond Report in another blog entry.  As for bullying, the education issue here starts prior to kindergarten but also needs to continue throughout schooling.  I think we can develop different ways of delivering curriculum that result in a more inclusive atmosphere in the classroom and school environment.  Better quality training for our educators will also help.

Nearly 45% of the people responding are not happy with the province’s leadership when it comes to their involvement in the public school system.  Clearly that is going to have to be addressed going forward.

I was a little surprised to find that almost 45% of the respondents felt that our children are not being taught the attitudes and behaviours necessary to be successful outside of school.  Are we raising a generation of academics (graduation rates are increasing as is attendance at some form of post-secondary institution) or are we simply pushing our children through with the hopes that they will learn these skills somewhere else?

Amongst the other concerns that constituents wanted to raise were the Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s sale of homes or redevelopment of existing properties.  In Ward 17 we have a few significant sites that are currently undergoing community consultation to discuss with residents how this process will take place and how they will be impacted.  This will most certainly impact our schools both in the short term (as we lose students) as well as in the longer term (when students return). 

Again, I would like to thank everyone that has completed the survey to date and will leave it open for a while longer.  The role of the trustee is to advocate for Ward 17: our children, our schools and our community.  Knowing what the community thinks can only help me with that.

As for the first All Candidate's Meeting, only 6 candidates showed up.  I'm not sure where the others were but wouldn't you want to vote for someone that is at least going to make themselves available?  

I did get a chance to speak to the group that was present and was really pleased with the breadth of questions we were asked.  I managed to speak to one woman that wanted to know which schools in the area are recognized as being excellent at providing extra support to those students that require it.  Above this is me speaking to a couple of residents that are interested in making sure their grandchildren go through an education system that teaches them the skills they will need in the global market place.