October 6, 2010 For Immediate Release
TRUSTEE ELECTIONS IGNORED
Little Media Interest in School Board Candidates
Ottawa electors have little help in selecting their school board trustees. Media coverage is minimal and the media and community associations rarely hold all-candidates meetings or debates involving trustee candidates. There is little information available unless an individual candidate’s election material reaches your door. During many past elections school trustees have been acclaimed, so many voters don’t even realize this is an elected office. Even though this year there are contests in 11 of the 12 zones for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, little attention has been paid.
Lorne Rachlis, trustee candidate in Zone 9, has spoken out about this situation and continues to be concerned. “It is important that you know the candidates in your zone,” he writes. “The choices trustees make impact every aspect of children’s education. They decide which schools to keep open, when and where to build new schools, where attendance boundaries are, which schools get renovations, and how schools are financed.” The work of the school board affects the whole community. Half of our residential property tax goes to the publicly funded school board of our choice whether we have children in school or not. The largest school board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, has a current expenditure budget of $730 million and serves over 70,000 students.
Lack of media coverage has led to an increase in the reliance on social networking for the exchange of ideas on education and the candidates who will control this important aspect of our community life. A significant segment of the voters, including many senior citizens, are not involved in this discussion and are therefore unable to access this information. The electors of Ottawa need and expect a complete coverage of trustee elections.
For further information or to arrange an interview, contact Lorne Rachlis: 613-290-9881; rachlis@rogers.com; www.rachlis.ca.
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| Team "Diana's Darlings" raised $2500 at Parkinson Superwalk at Andy Haydon Park on Saturday, September 11, 2010. That's me in the back row behind my wife Louise holding the poster. |
+with+Gail.JPG) All set up at SuperEx  |
Lead canvassers opening their canvas bags (clever, eh?) at campaign kick off |
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| Lorne in motivating mode at campaign kick off |
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