. TDSB Trustee Howard Goodman, Eglinton-Lawrence .

           



 

My Commitments as Your Trustee


What happens in our Public schools matters.

Our Public schools do much more than help guide children to become knowledgeable, caring, skilled, creative adults.  Our Public schools also build the foundation of a civil, prosperous, and democratic society.  

Similarly, my job as Trustee on the Toronto District School Board has two distinct parts: the individual and the societal.  Both are grounded in the primary duty imposed on Trustees by the Education Act - "To promote student achievement and well-being".

On the "individual" side I commit to do my best to guide individual families or school communities to maximize the education outcomes for their children. 

On the "societal" side I commit to do my best to maximize the value that our Public schools deliver to society as a whole. 

And I commit to provide you with the most accurate information as well as the best advice that I have, without spin or regard to political consequences, and to listen to your thoughts with the same degree of openness.

 

I welcome all the comments, questions, challenges, and insights that you can provide me in achieving these goals.

 

Howard.Goodman@TDSB.on.ca                   @HowardGoodman
416.395.8403      5050 Yonge St . 5th Floor . Toronto ON . M2N 5N8

Constituency & Policy Advisor
Melanie Dickstein      Melanie.Dickstein@TDSB.on.ca

 

Latest Trustee Update

April 17 - Conflict of Interest Petition, Time to Act on Reg274, TDSB gets A+ on Kindness

This update contains three items:
- Eglinton-Lawrence voters launch "anti-Conflict-of-Interest" petition
- Minister Sandals is about review Reg274, seniority hiring, now is the time to speak out
- 90,000 Parents give A+ to TDSB schools for becoming Kinder & more Supportive

I spent the past two days helping move the TDSB "Return to Learn" after a concussion process along, and at a workshop with Dr. Michael Ungar about increasing student resilience.  Both are closely tied to my continuing focus to improve the Culture of Kindness in our schools.  I plan to report on these in my next TDSB Trustee update, along with some interesting new digital learning apps, websites, and programs that you may find useful.

As always I welcome your comments on anything to do with schools. 

Howard Goodman

Howard.Goodman@tdsb.on.ca
www.TDSB.on.ca/Goodman
@HowardGoodman (I only tweet about learning/parenting/etc, never what I had for breakfast)

Eglinton-Lawrence voters launch an "anti-Conflict-of-Interest" petition

As the consultations about the implementation of Full Day JK/SK in Eglinton-Lawrence schools (FDK8) for Sept 2014 continues, a number of families in the area have expressed upset at the risk that I would attract by being involved.  Many dozens have told me that they want me to be able to fully represent their interests on this important matter.  They understand that the vagueness of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and a single complaint from a constituent puts me at risk, even though I do not believe that I have a conflict.

On April 11, School Council Chairs from across the ward wrote an email to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Linda Jeffrey, urging her to take action to clarify the meaning of the law in the hopes that the threat, simply because my wife and I own our family home, would be removed from me.  (I posted their letter on my web-site last week).

The gist of their letter is to ask the Minister to quickly clarify the meaning of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA) in order that I may properly represent the interests of the communities affected during the decisions that are in the process of being made to implement Full Day Kindergarten in 5 Eglinton-Lawrence schools for Sept 2014.  I join them in their request to Minister Jeffrey. 

As the Chairs note in their letter, the lack of clarity in MCIA places every City Councillor and Trustee at risk if they live in the community that they serve, and fully represent their constituents' interests. 

Trustee Judith Bishop of the Hamilton Board is in the process of defending herself against MCIA charges because she owns her home in an area that underwent an accommodation review, and she served her constituents by participating in that review.  The hearing on this case was set for April 30, giving me some hope that the arguments and the judge's comments might have provided me with an early indication of the meaning of the MCIA.  Unfortunately, the hearing has been postponed until June 20.  This is a disappointment to me and to others, but it is an indication of the complexity, seriousness, and cost of defending against an MCIA charge.

Minister Jeffrey has not yet replied to my letter of February 27 requesting clarification of the MCIA.  I hope that she will respond promptly to this call from those directly affected by my inability to fulfill my duty of representation on FDK8 without placing myself at legal risk.

This week, they have launched a petition to gauge the interest of Eglinton-Lawrence voters to have Minister Jeffrey act on the request in their email quickly, before the FDK8 decision is made.  They have put a target of 1500 signatures.		  


If you would like to support the School Council Chairs email, go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/goodman. 

As of 1am, Wed April 17, 443 people had signed the petition. It reads:

  • I live in Eglinton-Lawrence (TDSB Ward 8) and Howard Goodman is my locally-elected TDSB Trustee.
  • I believe that we need our local Trustee's knowledge, information, advice, insight, and involvement to ensure that the decisions TDSB makes in implementing Full Day Kindergarten in Ward 8 schools (FDK8) are the best ones possible for our community and our children.
  • I think that Trustee Goodman should be able to fully serve our community without being under threat of being found guilty under the Ontario Municipal Conflict of Interest Act which, as it is currently worded, threatens all City Councillors and School Board Trustees simply for living in the neighbourhoods they represent, and as such undermines local democracy throughout Ontario
  • I support the call made by Ward 8 School Council Chairs in their letter below for Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Linda Jeffrey to take urgent action to clarify the rules of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act so that Trustee Goodman may, without threat, fully represent us and our children in the on-going FDK8 discussions and decisions.

[The email to Minister Jeffrey is included with the petition; I won't bother including it here as well.]

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Minister Sandals is about to review Reg274, seniority hiring - Now is the time to speak out

Reg 274, which forces seniority hiring rules on School Boards and Principals, has been a source of serious concern for parents and educators since it was announced as part of Bill 115.  Parental pressure succeeded in forcing it out of Bill 115, only to have the same rules imposed a few days later by then Minister Broten as a regulation.  Fortunately, regulations can be removed unilaterally by the Minister.  Almost every Public School Board in Ontario has passed motions calling for Reg 274 to be rescinded.

Due to this consistent pressure from locally-elected Trustees at School Boards across Ontario, the Minister is going to form a committee, including School Boards, to consider the future of Reg 274.  This is part of the Minister's attempts to repair the damage done by Bill 115. 

If you are concerned about the increased use of "teacher seniority", rather than "best fit for the school's students", for hiring teachers, now is a good time to speak out. 

For more information on Reg274, click here.

To offer your opinion on Reg 274, here are some people who probably be interested.


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90,000 Parents give A+ to TDSB schools for becoming Kinder & more Supportive

Every few years TDSB conducts one of the largest and most comprehensive assessments performed by any education organization in the world.  Our Student Census asks every grade 7 to 12 students about their relationships with their schools, the conditions of their lives, and their background.  The TDSB Parent Census collects answers to a smaller number of questions from 90,000 parents about the lives of their children in JK to grade 6.  We use this data to help make our schools better places for our students to learn and mature.

The first results of the 2012 Parent Census has been released and here are some of the highlights worth noting.  Most importantly, there has been substantial improvement from 2008 on our already high results for indicators of a healthy Culture of Kindness. 

Any organization, public or private, would be thrilled to be able to report these levels of "customer satisfaction".  I know that we are, and we are taking steps to get even closer to a score of 100%.  Click here for a more complete summary of the Parent Census.

92% of parents told us that their "child enjoys school" (up from 89% in 2008).

92% of parents told us that their "child is treated with respect in the school" (up from 85% in 2008).  Importantly, for the lowest income families this measure went to 91%, up from 85% in 2008.  Even parents in families with income of more than $100,000/yr indicated an improvement, to 95% up from 91% in 2008.

88% of parents told us that "differences among all people are respected in our school" (up from only 72% in 2008).  Most importantly this measure not only improved, but the spread between low-income and high-income families (87% vs 90%) almost completely disappeared, even though in 2008 it was significant (68% vs 83%).

Also, the Parent and Student Census data has allowed us to act to improve the life chances of low-income students in meaningful ways.

Using 2008 parent census results TDSB got corporate help to launch hearing/sight testing programs. The result is that low income kids with eye exams went from 61% to 73%, hearing exams from 48% to 68%. Marks up, behaviour better, because kids can now learn because they can see and hear.  This program continues.

The Province and City and private donors decided to give more money to feed hungry students because we were able to measure the number of student who went to school hungry & tie that directly to the marks students were getting in school. The effect - more breakfast/lunch programs and a measurable improvement in behaviour and marks.