response to Bella and school for thought
inspired by Bella, here is a rant about our local public school system and other related things.
The funding of public schools, in Vancouver School District anyway, is made up of several factors. One of them is neighbourhood property values and one of them is school population and I don't know what else there is. Many neighbourhoods, particularly on the East side, where Bella and I grew up and continue to live, do consist primarily of homes that are split up into rental suites, many of which house low- or moderate-income people. So it is absolutely true that the funding of schools is based on an inaccurate picture of the people who live in the neighbourhood, since the homeowners themselves, who pay the taxes and whose incomes are presumed to represent the neighbourhood, tend not to live there.
I'm sure there is a fairly good proportion of houses that are occupied by owners too mind you, since lots of times you have a house that has 2 suites in it but members of the same extended family live in the whole house.
Okay and then writing about this reminded me of something that is happening in my neighbourhood that I look on with some scorn. Rightly or wrongly, that is my reaction to this phenomenon. Namely, the building of high-end townhouses on land that was once zoned semi-industrial. So it's not like they tore down low-income housing in order to build it, but it's still kind of wacky to me. I mean, I understand the concept of gentrification, but I don't buy the line the developers use to ingratiate themselves into the existing community.
There is one development (which seems to be stalled) that did its community presentation, city-permit plan dealie at J's school last year. They went on and on about how all these new townhouses will attract all these great families to the neighbourhood. Well, that's great, but what about the families who already live in the neighbourhood? I am a single parent and I cannot afford to buy a townhouse for $300,000+ !! I can't even afford to rent that place, assuming it will be bought by an aforementioned absentee landlord type!
There is another development that is steaming ahead, also $300,000+ townhouses, and apparently a representative of the development is coming to speak to our Parent Advisory Council meeting next week. On the one hand I'm very curious to see what they have to say about how they see themselves "contributing" to the neighbourhood (perhaps taking a big ugly empty lot and transforming it into expensive "family" housing is enough), and on the other hand I have to stop myself from concocting cynical, accusatory questions to throw at them and see how they handle it. Perhaps I'll report back here as to whether the angel or the devil prevails.
Getting back to Bella's question and point about neighbourhood public school funding, these two developments will significantly bump up the average value of property in the neighbourhood (since they are taking over lots that had been unoccupied), while contributing, at the absolute maximum, 10% of the children who attend the local school. That's assuming that ALL of the people who move into these 30-40 units of housing have school-age children. Presumably, those kids will be in the privileged minority, even assuming they attend our school, which is not one of the French Immersion schools and which has as its neighbourhood "competition" a "magnet" type school with a specialized program. Meanwhile, the 95% of 600 kids who eat hot lunches, and the 15% of 600 kids who come to school without winter coats or breakfast, see their programs cut and their chances dwindle.
Despite all those challenges, however, our school has done great things. It has taken a population that is about 85% ESL and given all those kids a sense of pride and inclusion, a feeling of safety and fun. It has devoted staff that take their own time and money to see that all the kids have something a little extra in their school experience. I sincerely hope that schools like ours offer the kind of environment that people like Bella are attracted to, because I would feel pretty damn good if she was one of my daughter's teachers. :)
The funding of public schools, in Vancouver School District anyway, is made up of several factors. One of them is neighbourhood property values and one of them is school population and I don't know what else there is. Many neighbourhoods, particularly on the East side, where Bella and I grew up and continue to live, do consist primarily of homes that are split up into rental suites, many of which house low- or moderate-income people. So it is absolutely true that the funding of schools is based on an inaccurate picture of the people who live in the neighbourhood, since the homeowners themselves, who pay the taxes and whose incomes are presumed to represent the neighbourhood, tend not to live there.
I'm sure there is a fairly good proportion of houses that are occupied by owners too mind you, since lots of times you have a house that has 2 suites in it but members of the same extended family live in the whole house.
Okay and then writing about this reminded me of something that is happening in my neighbourhood that I look on with some scorn. Rightly or wrongly, that is my reaction to this phenomenon. Namely, the building of high-end townhouses on land that was once zoned semi-industrial. So it's not like they tore down low-income housing in order to build it, but it's still kind of wacky to me. I mean, I understand the concept of gentrification, but I don't buy the line the developers use to ingratiate themselves into the existing community.
There is one development (which seems to be stalled) that did its community presentation, city-permit plan dealie at J's school last year. They went on and on about how all these new townhouses will attract all these great families to the neighbourhood. Well, that's great, but what about the families who already live in the neighbourhood? I am a single parent and I cannot afford to buy a townhouse for $300,000+ !! I can't even afford to rent that place, assuming it will be bought by an aforementioned absentee landlord type!
There is another development that is steaming ahead, also $300,000+ townhouses, and apparently a representative of the development is coming to speak to our Parent Advisory Council meeting next week. On the one hand I'm very curious to see what they have to say about how they see themselves "contributing" to the neighbourhood (perhaps taking a big ugly empty lot and transforming it into expensive "family" housing is enough), and on the other hand I have to stop myself from concocting cynical, accusatory questions to throw at them and see how they handle it. Perhaps I'll report back here as to whether the angel or the devil prevails.
Getting back to Bella's question and point about neighbourhood public school funding, these two developments will significantly bump up the average value of property in the neighbourhood (since they are taking over lots that had been unoccupied), while contributing, at the absolute maximum, 10% of the children who attend the local school. That's assuming that ALL of the people who move into these 30-40 units of housing have school-age children. Presumably, those kids will be in the privileged minority, even assuming they attend our school, which is not one of the French Immersion schools and which has as its neighbourhood "competition" a "magnet" type school with a specialized program. Meanwhile, the 95% of 600 kids who eat hot lunches, and the 15% of 600 kids who come to school without winter coats or breakfast, see their programs cut and their chances dwindle.
Despite all those challenges, however, our school has done great things. It has taken a population that is about 85% ESL and given all those kids a sense of pride and inclusion, a feeling of safety and fun. It has devoted staff that take their own time and money to see that all the kids have something a little extra in their school experience. I sincerely hope that schools like ours offer the kind of environment that people like Bella are attracted to, because I would feel pretty damn good if she was one of my daughter's teachers. :)
posted by infobabe | 2:46 p.m.
1 Comments:
Very informative post, darlin'. Thanks for clarifying and expanding on my post. (and thanks for your confidence in my teaching skills )
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