i don't agree with the outsourcing to other countries; but perhaps worth looking at for other provinces; pros / cons ...
ADQ wants to scrap school boards
Feb 26, 2007
(CBC) - ADQ Leader Mario Dumont said if elected premier he'd abolish school boards and reinvest the savings to streamline and improve Quebec's education system.
The province could pump up to $150 million into schools if it eliminated administrative boards, Dumont said on Monday during a campaign stop in Saint-Nazaire, in the Saguenay.
Dumont said school boards are bloated and suck up education dollars that could be used in the classroom. "The administrative costs are going up at a much bigger pace than the investment in the children, in the classes," said the ADQ leader.
Whatever school boards now accomplish could be assigned elsewhere, Dumont explained. School boards currently handle tasks such as payroll that could easily be outsourced to countries such as India, where labour costs are low.
Municipal governments could take over responsibilities such as maintaining schools grounds and snow removal. And regional education directors could assume the tasks of buying educational materials and hiring staff, Dumont said.
An ADQ government would also put an end to school taxes, and introduce new taxation powers for municipalities to generate revenue they'll need to pay for increased responsibilities under a reformed education system.
The ADQ's proposed education reform would cut administrative costs, leaving more for the classroom, and that could have a positive influence on the province's dropout rate, the ADQ leader said.
Dumont cited Finland as a success story, where dropout rates diminished after the Scandinavian country eliminated one level of school administration.
Monday, February 26, 2007
scrap school boards
Posted by audacious at 26.2.07
Labels: canadian interest
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2 comments:
It all sounds will nice but coming from this ultra conservative, I would be careful what I wish for here. Notice the downloaded funding would come at the municipal level of govt, so progressive taxation it is not, but based on property tax. Therefore, you would end up with a school system that is not based on equity for each child but one based on what each municipality would be willing to fork over for education. So a richer district with a wealther tax base would be able to provide better education than a poorer one, for example. See, he sees it as a way to save money but although he says they could plough this back into education, I could see schools competing with roads and infrastructure for funding. Each year, the funding would be determined by the municipality and therefore lack a stable funding source. Also, it is a way to get rid of unions or divide and conquer. We know all about that after 8 years of the Harris/Eves 'uncommon sense revolution.' These are just a few of my thoughts off the top of my head. I could go on and on.
i'll have to google this a bit, and see how finland achieved it with a tax base.
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