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ACTION
AGAINST POVERTY:
SCHOOL BOARDS AND COMMUNITIES JOIN FORCES CANADIAN SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION
MEDIA RELEASE November 22, 2001
(OTTAWA) - How far can school boards go in addressing the issue of child poverty in Canada? A long way, according to a new report from the Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA). Action Against Poverty: School Boards Making a Difference reports on the successes and challenges of direct action taken against poverty in ten school boards across Canada. CSBA undertook the project with funding from Health Canada. "We've been looking at ways boards can improve the learning outcomes of the one in five Canadian students who live in poverty," says Gary Shaddock, CSBA President. "It's good news. There are a lot of things that we can do if we work with community partners. We can really make a difference for these kids." The ten sites were very diverse. All demonstrated that, regardless of the size of the intervention, school boards, individual trustees and staff can make a difference in the lives of children in poverty. The interventions used ranged from school based feeding and reading programs to comprehensive community wide assessments and programs. Target groups included groups from kindergarten to high school students; from aboriginal to francophone communities; from rural to urban settings. CSBA's action on child poverty found its roots in a unanimously endorsed Annual General Meeting resolution calling for an end to child poverty in Canada. The work that followed was essentially a "call to arms" on behalf of students across the country. "School boards can't tackle the root causes of poverty," says Shaddock. "But as policymakers at the local level, they can help to reduce the impact." The Canadian School Boards Association is the national voice of school boards. It is comprised of nine provincial school board associations representing over 400 school boards and serving more than four million elementary and secondary school students. - 30 - For information:
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