Afrocentric public schools debated in Toronto

Less than 24 hours after Toronto’s public school trustees narrowly approved the creation of a black-focused school in 2009, a top board official opened the door to establishing multiple Afrocentric alternative schools—if there is sufficient demand. But questions arose about how the cash-strapped board will fund even one such school, especially with the proposal garnering little support from the provincial government.

“There’s no intention for extra funding to flow for this alternative school,” Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said in an interview Wednesday, January 30, 2008. “Alternative schools are funded in the same way that mainstream schools are. There’s no enriched funding for alternative programs.” Tuesday night’s 11-9 vote to establish a black-focused public school, in order to address a staggering dropout rate among black students in Canada’s largest school board, came after months of impassioned pleas from parents both for and against the idea. Read more in The Globe and Mail or The Toronto Star.