The Political Role of Catholic School Trustees September 2017

Introduction Catholic school trustees’ roles and responsibilities as democratically elected representatives of the Catholic school system Importance of establishing positive, long-term working relationships with other political representatives Current state of Ontario politics

Role of Catholic School Trustee Catholic School Trustees are: Locally- elected representatives of Catholic ratepayers/community Catholic community’s advocate for the promotion and protection of Catholic education

Role of Catholic School Trustee cont’d… Responsibilities: Establish the educational mission of the board Develop multi-year strategic plan in consultation with parents & students Set the Annual Budget Develop school board policies that protect and promote the constitutional right of the Catholic community to govern Catholic schools Select and support Director of Education Communicate the views and decisions of the board to constituents Represent the school board as a whole to the public Uphold the implementation of resolutions passed by the board

School Board Policy Development and Communication Key roles of trustees: Advocate on behalf of parents/ratepayers Develop policies in the best interest of students and Catholic Community Communicate board decisions to constituents Recognize that school board Chair is generally the spokesperson for the school board unless that responsibility is delegated to other board members

Building Positive, Long Term Relationships with MPPs and Local Government Role of local MPPs Help shape a government’s overall policy agenda: Champions of local issues Leaders within their local communities Members of government standing committees and other legislative and policy processes Example: Private members’ bill to end human trafficking

Building Positive, Long Term Relationships with MPPs and Local Government, cont’d … B. Why build relationships with MPPs? Key to assisting Catholic school boards in the implementation of their specific strategic goals related to student achievement and well-being Local MPPs also have a keen interest in staying close to the ground in their ridings on key developments impacting the community. Educational issues are often a priority for local voters and therefore important to local MPPs.

Building Positive, Long Term Relationships with MPPs and Local Government, cont’d … Our Catholic schools are at the centre of a community or neighbourhood integral to a community’s identity key for a student’s faith formation Key partners with parishes and parents Trustees offer valuable insights into factors that drive public opinion, through their knowledge of school issues: child care education programs school board matters

Building Positive, Long Term Relationships with MPPs and Local Government, cont’d … Trustees are potentially closer than MPPs to other municipal political matters by attending municipal committee meetings local board activities community gatherings

Building Positive, Long Term Relationships with MPPs and Local Government, cont’d … The key to building long term relationships is leveraging the Trustee’s access to this local intelligence… key local groups/leaders networks of influential groups informal agendas of these groups/individuals …and working collaboratively with MPPs to find solutions to local issues. Examples: School consolidation Student transportation issues Special education programs

Building Positive, Long Term Relationships with MPPs and Local Government, cont’d … C. Building relationships with local government Local municipal councillors Can play key roles in protecting and promoting Catholic education Many are former school board trustees and have contact with local MPPs on a wide range of issues Some may be close to MPPs and local political party organizers that help shape broader policy agendas at different levels of government.

Communications Tactics for Relationship Building with MPPs and Municipal Councillors Communication methods that foster good working relationships with provincial and local representatives: Invitations to school events graduation ceremonies guest lectures on government school openings demonstrations of school projects showcase the achievements of the school

Formal school board invitations Communications Tactics for Relationship Building with MPPs and Municipal Councillors Formal school board invitations attend school gatherings or planned meetings with MPP’s share ideas on education policy issues Joint local projects spring clean-ups environment days

Informal discussions Indirect methods Goal Communications Tactics for Relationship Building with MPPs and Municipal Councillors Informal discussions Face-to-face encounters at local events or school functions Indirect methods Meet with local MPPs on political campaigns, community gatherings Goal Build trust and a sense of mutual commitment to the school and local community

Current State of Ontario Politics Context Provincial general election is on June 7, 2018. Over next 9 months each party will engage in key organizational, policy, fundraising and strategic planning activities that will position them as the party and leader of choice for Ontarians.

Current State of Ontario Politics, cont’d… Each Party and leader has specific challenges that they need to overcome to establish a path to victory on June 7. For example, recent polls show that the Premier is unpopular with the electorate, while the leader of the PC Party has little name recognition and the NDP leader is the most popular but the party’s policies are less so.

New Features for the 2018 Election This election has several new features different from the 2014 election. These include: Union and Corporate donations are prohibited. Since January 1, 2017 all political parties are banned from receiving corporate or union donations. Individual donations are capped at $3,600/year down from $23,275;

New Features for the 2018 Election, Cont’d… Taxpayers are funding political parties: all parties who received 2% of the popular vote in 2014 will receive $2.71 per vote. This breaks down as: $5.06 million for the Liberals $4.09 million for the PCs $3.1 million for the NDP $630,000 for the Greens.

New Features for the 2018 Election, Cont’d… 15 new seats in the GTA, 2 in Northern Ontario: due to population growth and boundary changes, there will be 124 possible MPPs. This may intensify political activity in the 905 areas of the GTA. New leader for the PC Party: this is Mr. Brown’s first provincial election as leader and expectations are high in recent polls that show he is the most popular choice for Premier (25% Innovative Research July, 2017).

New Features for the 2018 Election, Cont’d… Time for a Change: the Liberal Party has been in power for 15 years and the time for a change message may gain traction over the coming months. Polls show roughly 50% of Ontarians believe it is “time for a change”. Spending Limits on third party advertising: Amendments to the Election’s Finances Act or bill 201 passed in 2016 now reduce the amounts interest groups, unions and corporations can spend on partisan political advertising. $600k six months prior to campaign $100k during the election period

New Features for the 2018 Election, Cont’d… New Fixed Election Date: the usual time of elections in recent years has been October.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections Liberals According to internal party polling released to the media, public support is high for recent government policy announcements – carbon pricing, minimum wage increases, hydro rate cuts, free pharma-care for children and youth The “Fairness” theme has emerged in several recent speeches by the Premier that may form the basis of an overall campaign message.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections The focus of the election may be on the economic and social policy achievements of the Wynne government in promoting fairness for Ontarians and less on the leadership of the Premier. Education issues: with the launch of the curriculum review, the next steps in the well-being strategy and the new Education Equity Action Plan we see the theme of fairness emerging and the notion that the Liberals have a longer term plan for the education sector, a key plank in their overall brand.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections PC Party Building name recognition for the Leader in key jurisdictions of the province – the north, GTA, eastern Ontario. Neutralizing the perceived leadership inexperience and nomination process issues facing the party. Recent Forum polls suggest 40% of Ontarians have heard about the nomination disputes and it negatively impacts their view of the leader.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections Continue and increase the criticism of the current government on key economic issues, while “field testing” a few policy themes prior to the release of the party platform in late November Push the general theme of “time for a change” due to mismanagement of key economic and pocket book issues by the current government.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections Education issues: increase focus on minor adjustments to curriculum for more apprentice/trades training, need for equity in capital investments in aging infrastructure.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections NDP Spring party convention released vision document “It’s about Change. It’s about you” that outlines the party’s key policy priorities for the 2018 election

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections The party will likely focus on and leverage the perceived popularity of the leader to deliver change that matters to average Ontarians targeting urban ridings lost to the liberals in 2014. For example: Improving health care services for seniors Improving social services to combat poverty Creating better working conditions – guarantee sick days, fairness for temp workers, expand workers ability to unionize.

Themes Guiding Political Party Elections Continue to criticize government on its record in key social policy and labour areas; Education issues: the vision platform outlines several policy goals of an NDP government including: Cap class sizes in Kindergarten and reduce split grades Reduce wait times for special education assessment services Fund special education according to student needs and increase access to EA’s and professionals Develop a comprehensive autism strategy Increase capital investments Creating healthy and safe schools Phase out EQAO to a “random sampling testing” model.

Summary Political roles of Catholic trustees are vital to supporting Catholic education: Work with parents, community groups, and local governments Advocate on system-wide educational issues Develop good working relationships with local MPPs and Municipal Councillors on matters impacting the community, school and parish Bring to policy debates: relationships, local knowledge, and school boards’ concerns

Summary, cont’d… Critical to build and deepen relationships with local MPPs and municipal councillors 2018 provincial and municipal election season Political agendas of all political parties and many local governments include: School board governance Rural school funding Student transportation Special education funding Pupil accommodation reviews

Summary, cont’d… Good relationships will enhance and amplify: Your key messages on these issues The great work of your boards to promote Catholic education