Media Release

June 22, 2010
www.saveontarioschools.org

$395 Million TDSB Plan to be Passed Two Days After Release
Save Ontario Schools is planning a press conference and a protest on Wednesday June 23rd.

Location: Kent Street Sr PS (south side) @ 10:30 A.M

Protest (in conjunction with Education Action: Toronto, who are protesting the setting of school boundaries in Hwy #27 & Finch area, which prevents Somali students from attending their local school):
Location: North York Centre 5050 Yonge Street @ 6 P.M

On the morning of Monday June 21st, the TDSB finally released the $395 million capital plan that would see the closure and sale of 8 schools to fund the construction of two new ones???
It will be voted on at the Board meeting on Wednesday June 23rd.  Parents and community members across the city who have been involved in the process are shocked that such an expensive plan would be voted on with so little consideration by the community or by Trustees.
“It would be irresponsible for Trustees to pass this plan without giving the public and themselves an opportunity to closely examine the numbers,” argues Frans Bronkhorst, a Jane-Finch parent who has been involved in the public consultations on school closings in his area.
Community members wonder whether the plan is in fact seriously flawed. Although at least two of the 8 schools up for sale are likely to be sold to the French school board, and others could be sold to other boards or to private schools, the capital plan does not calculate the potential cost of the loss of students to these schools.
“In the 2006, the Toronto Catholic District School Board launched an advertising campaign that drew 1000 students from TDSB schools. The loss of these students will cost the TDSB $80 million in revenue over a ten year period,” says Chris Glover, Chair of Save Ontario Schools. “If students are lost through this capital plan, then the balance sheet they are presenting will be thrown out of whack.”
Parents and community members have other questions about the validity of the numbers that are being presented, but if Trustees rush through a vote on Wednesday evening, Toronto taxpayers won’t get the answers until it is too late.

Chris Glover, Save Ontario Schools Chair: 416-875-4386
Frans Bronkhorst, Jane-Finch ARC Member: 416-602-0592

Learn More...

campaignforpubliceducation.ca
saveschools.wordpress.com

 

News

www.mtml.ca

Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy (MTML) in partnership with the Toronto Public Library Adult Literacy Program’s staged their 8th annual Learners’ Conference, June 10th at the North York Public Library. Over 200 learners from Toronto and York Region participated in workshops and attended the Golden Oak book award ceremony.

What We Did

TASA hosted a ‘tell us your story’ quilt workshop, as well as facilitating a workshop led by Klyde Broox of the Dub Poets Collective. Klyde used his own blend of speech, song, dance and mime to involve learners in the magic of words.

To learn more about dub poetry, visit http://www.dubpoetscollective.com

 

Who We Are

The Toronto Adult Student Association is a membership based organization that helps adults reach their educational goals by providing referral to: Credit, English as another Language (ESL), and Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programmes.

What We Do

TASA advocates for resources and support for adult learning programs, and provides support and connection to community and government services including: childcare, immigration, health, international education and professional credential evaluation, public libraries, tenant’s rights, trade certification, etc. Our services for our members include access to information resources: forms and applications, job search, training and apprenticeship, and volunteer opportunities.

TASA Celebrated International Adult Learners' Week
March 01 - 06, 2010

Click here to check out what we did...

 

Computer Sale: hsdconline.org

May 17, 2010

HSDC (Heritage Skills Development Center)

Heritage Skills Development Center is offering for sale for following state-of-the-art laptops at give-away prices, to further help build the capacity of our community: IBM Think Pad, Processor Speed: 1700 MHz, RAM (memory): 512 MB, HDD (hard drive capacity): 40 GB, $199.99 + NO TAX (wired option) or $219.99 + NO TAX (wireless)
Desktop PC’s also available, all necessary software is already installed on all units. Items sold on a first come, first served basis. For more information, please contact HSDC by phone: 416-345-1613 or by email: info@hsdconline.org
Visit HSDC at 400 McCowan Road, Scarborough, ON M1J 1J5 (Monday – Friday)

Proceeds of all sales go towards supporting HSDC's free Computer, Network and Web Design training program targeted at low-income people living in Toronto.