College hosts education summitThe College will play host on January 8th and 9th to a conference on how the education system in Ontario is governed. The summit will bring together 200 participants - current government officials and education leaders as well as representatives of business and community groups with an interest in public education. Participants will discuss how policies are made and implemented and what can be done to clarify responsibilities and accountability for decision making. "The College is very pleased to be able to host this conference," says College Registrar Doug Wilson. "We recognize the importance of working with our education partners to develop an understanding of how to improve the governing structure to support student learning in Ontario." The conference is being organized and sponsored by the Learning Partnership, a not-for-profit organization committed to strengthening publicly funded schools in Ontario. "It's the first time that people have come together in Ontario to discuss the issue of educational governance on such a scale," says Veronica Lacey, president of the Learning Partnership and a former deputy minister of education. "We talk about governance but there is not a shared understanding among education stakeholders of what it means and what the authority, responsibility and accountability of each education partner should be." Participants will include representatives from education stakeholder organizations, teacher affiliates, school boards, trustees, provincial government, business and community groups and social services, as well as students and parents. Among the speakers and panel members will be former premier of Ontario Bob Rae, former education minister Dave Cooke, the head of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Claude Lamoureux, journalist Jennifer Lewington, Justice Paul Rouleau (a leading expert on governance in the French-language school system), Atkinson Foundation head and former Ontario deputy minister of education Charles Pascal and Bernard Shapiro, also a former deputy minister and currently Principal and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of McGill University. Topics will include a historical perspective and future trends on educational governance, the strengths and weaknesses of governance in Ontario and governance in other jurisdictions- featuring speakers from Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta. A white paper on governance is being developed and will form the basis for discussion at the conference. "Ultimately, we want to develop a position that will speak to policy makers. We want to influence the way that educational governance is defined and developed in Ontario." For more information about the Learning Partnership visit www.thelearningpartnership.ca.
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