Entry #9 - Nov. 2, 1998

"[T]he feeling is we can't allow so many schools to close, because they are an integral part of their neighborhoods and a reason why, even though we have low socioeconomic areas, we have no slums or ghettos, but vibrant multicultural communities instead. Without schools in the downtown core we could see the same urban decay that has blighted so many other North American cities."


Chicken Little notwithstanding, the sky really IS falling. We all knew that, because of government funding cuts, schools would be closed and/or merged in our district; but no one was prepared for the magnitude of the proposed closures.

Our principal called an emergency meeting of all teaching and support staff Thursday afternoon to share information she had learned that morning in a district-wide principals' meeting, before the news was released to the press. It's a wholesale massacre. Of the approximately 460 elementary and middle schools in the district, 120 are slated for closure, including many -- more than half, anyhow -- of the schools in our part of the city. Riverside is on the list.

We were taken aback by this, having anticipated that we would be merged with our twinned elementary school (combining them into one building), but not expecting to be closed outright, if only because our facility is a newer and more valuable one, given that many of our schools were built around 1920. The decision is not final, but the numbers are: if one school is removed from the list, another will be put on.

Our principal stressed that this was NOT the time for communities to work against each other: there are no "winners" in this scenario. The schools that remain open must pick up the students that are displaced -- some 36,000, in a steadily-growing population -- and that will overwhelm their current resources and mean the end of special education programs, science labs, computer labs, music rooms, lunchrooms, community-based programs, day care, enrichment programs and much more, all because of lack of space. We even face having classes in washrooms and boiler rooms.

Our nearest elementary not on the closure list has 360 kids now, and the government says it must have 900. There are only 30 rooms, including the office, bathrooms and storage areas: even if they move the office outside in a tent, where will they put 550 more kids -- have 50 and 60 to a class perhaps? Many of our feeder schools will also close. These kids face being bused long distances. In many areas the Catholic school (they are public here in Toronto -- long story!) is also slated to close. Working families stand to lose their schools, community centers, and day care at one fell swoop.

I hear it's even worse in rural areas, where communities are faced with having their kindergarten children bused 50 miles each way, and high school kids 75 miles (or more).

There's a community meeting next week to develop a response to these actions: the feeling is we can't allow so many schools to close, because they are an integral part of their neighborhoods and a reason why, even though we have low socioeconomic areas, we have no slums or ghettos, but vibrant multicultural communities instead. Without schools in the downtown core we could see the same urban decay that has blighted so many other North American cities.

Why do we seem always to lurch from crisis to crisis? It's hard to see how we can focus on improving students' work in the classroom when we're constantly in turmoil imposed by external politics. No wonder many teachers become cynical and roll their eyes at any "improvement plan." Still, we are used to these rough seas, or we have learned to cope. Sometimes I'm amazed teachers are as creative and willing to try new things as they are, considering the constant buffeting from both the administrative and political levels.

What keeps us going? It must be the satisfaction of seeing students achieve and transcend even their own expectations, and the genuine appreciation that many parents feel (and some express), as well as the pleasure an intrinsically motivated person takes in a job well done, even if others do not know about it. There is a limit, though. I don't know where exactly the point lies where most of the capable, committed people will say "Enough, already!" and bail out -- but I fear we are rapidly approaching that point.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is another day, and I have plate tectonics and IEP's to deal with (not to mention report cards). No time to worry about the destruction of public education! The sad fact is, though, that this kind of crisis is likely to derail meaningful initiatives at the classroom and school level, as everyone switches into flight-or-fight mode.Who will want to develop or initiate long-term improvement plans with the threat of school closure hanging over them?


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