The unofficial anthem of Ontario is “A Place to Stand”:
Give us a place to stand
And a place to grow
And call this land Ontario.
…………………………………….
A place to stand, a place to grow
Ontari-ari-ari-o !
However, Ontario students are encouraged to stand in different places and grow in different directions.This is because Ontario has
four school systems, which is costly and inefficient. Publicly funding a province wide parallel Catholic school system in addition to the public school system is not fair or equitable.
The Green Party of Ontario is the only political party to take a stand against publicly funded Catholic schools in Ontario:
Ontario could save more than a billion dollars by merging the Catholic and public school boards. The Green Party of Ontario wants to have a conversation about a fair, efficient school system.
The Green Party of Ontario’s petition to the Ontario Ministry of Education is one part of the conversation. Its “Smarter Schools” Twitter account @OneONOneSchool provides links to facts and figures to support its drive for “One Ontario. One School System.”
On his Facebook page, Gary Brown, Green Party of Ontario candidate in London West, shares the projected cost savings calculated in an “Ontario Public and Catholic School Merger Study“:
Elimination of school board and governance grants for discontinued Catholic school boards with total potential savings of $164.9 million.
French language education savings of $38 million by reducing under-utilization.
Savings in student transportation grants of $169 million.
Savings in capital program costs of $239 million.
Economies of scale savings of between $488 million and $813 million.
The total estimated annual savings due to merging have been calculated at between $1.269 billion and $1.594.
Is this the Ontario you want, an Ontario that privileges one religion over all others, an Ontario that does not separate church and state? If not, please join the conversation and sign the petition today.
