Don Valley East headed for political change
With education such a huge issue, it is surprising that the race for public school trustee has received little if no attention.
When voters go to the polls on Nov. 10 they will be choosing not only a new mayor and selecting a local city councillor, but also a representative for education in the form of a school trustee.
While the current 22 public school trustees were neutered last year by the Tory government when it appointed supervisor Paul Christie to take over the board and make decisions, that will change with the Liberals taking over on Oct. 23.
The new government has stated that it will fire Christie and restore power to the new Toronto trustees, who will take over after the municipal election.
Change is also on the horizon as exactly half of the current trustees are not seeking re-election.
Don Valley East can best be summed up as a game of musical chairs. The same names are around, but they are in different political arenas.
The current school trustee for this area, Ward 17, Shelley Carroll is jumping on the municipal band wagon hoping to be voted in as councillor for the same area: Don Valley East.
She did this, in part because the current councillor, a 15-year political veteran, Paul Sutherland gambled by running provincially instead of opting for re-election as a councillor.
So who is running for the public school trustee position in Don Valley East? Three men will be on the ballot seeking your vote: Zia Ahmed, Michael Coteau and Nick Vlahos.
Ahmed, moved from Bangladesh to Canada so his three kids, now aged 20, 14 and 13, could have a quality education, he states. The co-chair of the school council at George S. Henry Academy has also been involved with local education groups: Campaign for Public Education and the Toronto Parent Network.
"So when Shelley decided to run for council, some parents approached me to run (as a trustee)," he said.
When Ahmed lived in Saudi Arabia, he says, he helped hire teachers and built and start a school for low-income people in the area.
The 49-year-old outlines four key issues as the priority right now. He wants to see teachers to get updated training, "as improvement for employees (just like) any other profession."
Second, he wants updated textbooks available to all students.
"I want to see no program changes. We need proper funding and hopefully with a Liberal government we will get that. The fourth issue is for schools to be used for community and continuing education especially for seniors at a minimum cost or for free," says Ahmed, who lives with his wife and two youngest kids in the Don Valley East area of York Mills and the DVP.
"I grew up in a home in which education was highly valued," says political science graduate Coteau. "I happen to believe that one of the things that separates free, democratic societies from totalitarian regimes is a publicly funded education system open to all citizens. Giving people knowledge gives them power and we do that through our schools."
Last year, he earned a second degree in Canadian History. Coteau was an assistant to MP John Manley and he has taught ESL in South Korea.
"I believe that education in Toronto has been drastically under-funded and misguided over the last eight years," says Coteau, who has worked extensively in several provincial and federal campaigns.
If elected, he would advocate for the restoration of after-school activities. " I believe that after-school activities help prepare young adults for the future," says the educational consultant and partner in a firm that develops curriculum.
"Schools must have the resources needed to educate our children. According to the Rozanski Report, schools in Ontario are under-funded," says the 31-year-old. "Teachers should not have to dip into their personal funds to buy material for the classroom. Programs that have been cut, for example, music programs have to be resorted through an increase of money to the (TDSB)."
Two other key issues, says Coteau, are the lack of affordable daycare space in Don Valley East and the increases of rental fees for school facilities.
"We need to make our schools facilities, for example soccer fields, affordable, so community groups can continue to provide children with recreational activities," says Coteau, who resides near Lawrence Ave. and Underhill Dr.
Candidate Vlahos could not be reached.