[Comment] Schools can help fight poverty

from The Toronto Star

Gail Nyberg
Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni
Arthur Bielfeld

What does our public education system have to do with child poverty?

Why is high-quality, publicly funded education the best weapon in the fight against child and family poverty and hunger? Why are our publicly funded schools a resource every bit as important to our future as forests, fresh water and gold mines? The answers are not hard to find.

Neighbourhood schools that welcome children from diverse cultures and economic backgrounds serve as the primary social institution to ensure equality of opportunity. Children from different backgrounds working and playing together contribute to tolerant, productive and engaged future citizens. But, sadly, teachers and parents also know the troubling effects on children of malnutrition, stress and inadequate housing. They see what happens when such conditions cause children to lag behind. And we know all too well the immense social costs of dealing with the consequences.

Teachers in Ontario want to see child poverty highlighted on the political agenda. Public health nurses and social workers also want to see improvement in the lives of the children and families with whom they work. They know that when the classroom fails, the society it serves fails as well.

As Ontario gears up for the coming provincial election, advocates of eradicating child and family poverty have joined forces to urge candidates from all parties to consider the dreadful ratio of one child in six growing up in poverty, and to keep in mind practical measures that will do much to address this inequity.

Since 1992, the annual Campaign 2000 report cards have monitored the all-party resolution passed in Parliament to "end child poverty by the year 2000." Sadly, the statistics in those reports remain bleak; they tell us that 17 per cent of Canadian children live in poverty. And this in a country that regularly runs budget surpluses.

In Ontario, where the poverty rate echoes the national average, we will soon have the opportunity to vote for politicians who are committed to clear measures to deal with this injustice.

Poverty affects us all. The mantra that the rising GNP tide would raise everybody's economic boat has been proven wrong; some people's boats are anchored in unstable waters and many have sunk altogether. The unstable economy in the United States caused by the overextended credit system recently gave the investment world a taste of what can happen when too many people are poor.

The gap between the haves and the have-nots has never been wider, while the national wealth, and thus the national capacity to narrow that gap, has also never been greater. The means are there; as yet the political will is not. We believe that adequately funded local schools provide a tangible first step toward meeting the challenge of lowering the rates of child poverty and closing the unhealthy gap between rich and poor. The moment seems right to improve our schools in ways that will improve many young lives.

How to do so? We suggest beginning in the early school years to build a stronger system. All-day kindergarten available in elementary schools throughout the province should be a reality for all children. Children's entry to full-time schooling allows struggling families to return to work.

More importantly, quality early education lays the foundation for future school success, graduation and meaningful employment. For the best student outcomes, we believe that schools should be properly funded to become community hubs where access to nutrition, child care, after-school recreation programs and public health nurses would be readily available. Where six out of six Ontario children would have the prospect of a better future.

We are fortunate to have in place a working democracy at the school board level where parents are able to influence their trustees to make decisions in the best interests of their children. What is missing so far is the political will to provide those boards and the communities they serve with funding adequate to meet their needs.

In short, we want the next provincial government to include schools as a critical resource in its strategy to end child poverty. Only then will every child have a fair start in life.

In this election, look for the party that recognizes the essential role of the public education system in a poverty reduction strategy.

Gail Nyberg is executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank and former chair of the Toronto District School Board. Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni is co-chair of the The June Callwood Campaign Against Child Poverty and former chair of the Metropolitan Separate School Board. Arthur Bielfeld is co-chair of the The June Callwood Campaign Against Child Poverty and Rabbi Emeritus at Temple Emanu-El in Toronto.