Keeping Faith In Mind

1. Stewards of Catholic Education Committee Keeping Faith In Mind Catholic School Council Chairs Presentation: February 3rd, 2010

2. The Enduring Gift

3. Advocacy for Catholic Education in Ontario What is Advocacy? • Strategies, actions, solutions to influence decision making. • Telling your story to someone of influence • Affecting decisions and helping preserve or support policies that are of concern for you.

4. Catholic Education – “Distinctiveness” Our Schools: • Give students a solid foundation for life-to achieve their full spiritual, academic, physical and emotional potential • In addition to teaching the Ontario Curriculum our Catholic schools provide the foundation for understanding our faith tradition. • Catholic education has a distinct emphasis on social justice and service to the less fortunate. • The expectations of Catholic graduates are measured not only in knowledge skills, but also in attitude, values and actions.

5. We encourage and build a strong relationship between: Working together to educate:

6. The Fourth Reading

7. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Myth: • The Catholic system is a duplicate system that costs the taxpayers of Ontario hundreds of millions of dollars annually and should be amalgamated with the public school system to save money.

8. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • We are a distinctly different faith-based system whose educational purpose is not only the transmission of knowledge but also the formation of the whole person, body, mind and spirit so that our graduates can contribute to the transformation of the world in the image of God. • Catholic ratepayers represent approximately one-third of Ontario’s tax revenue base and fund Catholic schools through their property, income, sales and other taxes.

9. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • Ontario went through a major amalgamation of school boards in 1998 and most economies of scale have now been realized. If all school systems amalgamated, the cost of salaries, benefits and services would rise to the highest level. • Catholic and public school boards already save taxpayers millions of dollars annually through a variety of successful partnerships in such areas as co-operative school financing, purchasing, transportation, energy management and other shared services.

10. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Myth: • Catholic shool boards unjustifiably discriminate in admitting only Catholic children to their schools and in hiring only Catholic teachers.

11. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • It is the constitutional mandate of Catholic Schools to provide Catholic education to Catholic students. • Catholic boards have the preferential right to hire Catholic teachers who can fulfil the responsibilities of a teacher in a Catholic school and who are knowledgeable about and committed to the values, goals and obligations of the Catholic education system. • Non-Catholic students can attend our Catholic high schools.

12. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • Our board has policies that permit non-Catholic children to attend at the elementary level under certain conditions. • There are many non-Catholic persons employed by Catholic school boards as teachers, administrators and support staff who share the values of our system and contribute in meaningful ways to the mission of Catholic schools.

13. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Myth: • It would be easy to eliminate Catholic schools in Ontario based on the precedent set in Newfoundland & Labrador and Quebec.

14. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • Education is a provincial responsibility. • Catholic Education is fully or partially funded in six other Canadian provinces. • Newfoundland/Labrador: Voters opted to replace a system that was all denominational. • Quebec: Changed to language-based model, reflecting their society. • Both situations were dramatically different from Ontario, and are not valid comparisons.

15. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • All three political parties in Ontario are on record as supporting the Catholic school system as an integral part of publicly funded education in Ontario. • Catholic education in Ontario is supported by a strong infrastructure of Catholic organizations. • There are four publically funded school systems in Ontario. • Public English – Public French • English Catholic – French Catholic

16. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Myth: • Catholic schools result in social and ethnic segregation which undermines the development of tolerance and respect for Ontarians of different backgrounds.

17. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • Students from many races and cultures atttend and learn together in Catholic schools, as they do in public schools. • Catholic school curriculum instills in students the values of tolerance, respect, inclusivity, love of neighbour and community service.

18. Catholic Education: Myths & Realities Reality: • Graduates of Catholic schools make meaningful and important contributions to improving their communities as leaders in politics, business, healthcare, education and volunteer services. • Understanding other groups and other beliefs is an important part of the teaching in Catholic schools. Our schools have led the way in providing courses on World Religions.

19. Conclusion • Catholic schools are a successful part of publically funded education in Ontario. • Schools in our board consistently meet or exceed provincial expectations in student achievement, program delivery, class size and character development.

20. Conclusion • Our curriculum is purposely designed to produce graduates with good moral character who are responsible citizens, caring family members and collaborative contributors to the common good of Ontario’s society. • We encourage our parents and neighbours to support and promote the good works and achievements of our students and staff. Speak up for Catholic Education

21. Stewards of Catholic Education Committee Keeping Faith In Mind Catholic School Council Chairs Presentation: February 3rd, 2010