Will their education be affected?
This issue has also been raised by a number of constituents. There is growing concern that we may be faced with financial cut backs and people want to know what efforts I will take to protect public education in Ottawa-Carleton.
My Response
I believe the concern is real; however, it will not make me waiver from my personal mandate to ensure that the students in the OCDSB receive the very best education that they can. I will continue to do my best to advocate for the students and families in my zone and will work hard to promote and defend programs and priorities identified by them as important. Financial cutbacks would require us to reach out broadly to all stakeholders to identify priorities and to work together to find creative solutions to the problem.
Depending on the extent of the problem, alternative financial models may need to be considered. In my professional world, I work as a professional fundraiser – I have witnessed a number of interesting alternative funding models develop in response to financial cut backs. I am, however, not familiar with all of the legislative restrictions that may be in place that would impact the range of possibilities in this scenario. Suffice it to say that I think we will need to bring a lot of thinkers together to solve the problem effectively and creatively; the red pen cannot be the only answer.
Comments