Sees rights issue in school board
Letters, The Intelligencer
February 19, 2008
Re: Letter, Race-based School Divisive - Feb. 6.
Desperate situations sometimes call for desperate solutions. The Toronto District School Board's (TDSB) decision to commission an afrocentric alternative school is politically charged. Dalton McGuinty and John Tory have stated their position (both against). The Premier has said he won't fund the school. The NDP may likely have a position too, though I can't recall having heard or read anything of their opinion.
The TDSB is struggling to address the concerns of its black community. The board is reeling from the scathing indictment of its senior administration by the Falconer report.
All the while the TDSB has been operating under the watchful eye of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), with whom it had signed a settlement agreeing to stop its apparent abuse of "students from racialized communities and students with disabilities."
I expect the OHRC's chief commissioner, Barbara Hall, might weigh in if she too considers an afrocentric alternative school "a step backward." I assume she has the right, given her oversight of the terms of settlement, and the obligation, given her organization's mandate on issues of equity.
In any event, who are we to petition against Toronto's solution to its desperate situation when our own school board faces a serious human rights challenge of its own.
Last May I assisted in bringing attention to the abuse of special needs students, as measured by their suspension rates. The 2006-2007 statistics are now available in a public document called the October Report.
I wonder if there's been any significant change? Or if we need to seek a desperate solution of our own.
Bob Clements
Belleville
