Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2
Funding different systems based on religion happens all over the world. In the UK there is lots of choice, not only based on religion, but student interest as well. The one size fits all Ontario system is about as appealing as our healthcare system or telcom system. It's broken.
And with regards to religion declining, you might be able to make a case for that, but I would say it has shifted. If you see churches closing, it's probably the liturgical, formal churches. For every one of those you see close, I could point you to others that are opening or adding services to fit everyone in. It seems to me that you are content with the state religion: secularism, which is classed as a religion.
Christians and Muslims are taxpayers too btw.
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When you say something like “Christians and Muslims are taxpayers too btw” it suggests you do not actually understand the debate at hand. Possibly, you are trying to play some sort of martyr which isn’t helpful to the ones who are actually interested in having a meaningful discussion.
Having multiple publicly funded school boards is inefficient. Full stop. As taxpayers, of course everyone is entitled to access public education. I feel like this should really really really go without saying, but since you have already thrown out that eyebrow-raising quote, I feel obliged. When I say “Everyone”, it obviously includes the two groups mentioned above...
Although we are all entitled to an education that is funded via tax dollars, most folks would argue none of us are entitled to a “free” education that is specially tailored towards our own specific and unique individual needs. It would never be practical. Save for a few bad outliers, people who want to see a single board are just trying to focus on the practical solution to education, rather than attempting to target any sort of religious groups, I assumed this was understood by both sides until I read your most recent post.
Kids are only in school about 6 to 7 hours per day, and once you subtract various breaks, it’s only a few hours of actual learning. There is plenty of time outside of school to practice religion, or special interests or whatever the case may be. No one is trying to deny the right to that. Let’s just end that rhetoric, since that is the road you appear to be headed down when I read your most recent post.
As others have said, (high school) enrollment numbers are not indicative of anything. A very high percentage of attendees have selected the institution based on convenience, friends, extracurricular/sporting opportunities, access to particular facilities or straight up just avoiding the public school they are zoned in, if it has a certain reputation. It is a stated fact that you don’t need to be catholic to attend Catholic high schools in Ontario, it’s not like this is a secret. Have you not been through high school or had kids that went through high school in the past 20 years? Kids aren’t pretending to be catholic to gain admission, you don’t need to.
Elementary school is a bit more of a grey area. There is a Toronto Star article that is nearly 10 years old and talks about a “quiet” shift away from catholic requirements to attend elementary catholic schools (since this is my first post, I’m not sure what the policy is on links, but it’s not hard to find if anyone is interested). As far as I know, LDCSB still has requirements in place for elementary schools, but WIndosr (apparently) does not. The province-wide trend is undeniable.
You comment on the UK having “choice” for religion and other student interests. I’m not sure exactly what you are talking about, but I will start by mentioning that there is at least some modest choice in Ontario high schools too, with special programs (i.e., Beal) or just general availability for selecting unique classes… If you are suggesting the UK has separate publicly funded school boards for kids who like arts, and another for kids who like sports, etc., we’re going to need to see evidence of this (however, in the slightest chance that there is a publicly funded school board for athletes, it doesn’t change the fact that that would be an extremely inefficient way to deliver publicly funded education!)
Finally, this is clearly a passionate subject for many folks, and comments like 905ers are not particularly helpful… But, that does stand for both sides. You seem to believe that a removal of the publicly funded religious schoolboard would be some sort of egregious infringement on your individual rights. That is incorrect. Perhaps sending all the funds to a single school board would provide the board more opportunity to fund the more unique courses that you would like to see, in general. And if that’s not practical/satisfactory, home schooling or privately funded school boards can really go to town on specialized curriculum in my mind. If people want to pay for their kids to play basketball all day long, I don’t believe that would be best for the child, but it’s none of my business if it’s not my kid and not my money.
NOW PLEASE, EVERYONE, GET BACK TO CONSTRUCTION CONVERSATION AND I CAN GO BACK TO LURKING.
Thanks to everyone for their construction updates, especially on the individual project threads.
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