WEBSITE: www.mikewiener.ca

————————————————————————-

1. Why are you the best candidate for trustee?
Having two business degrees, I am well prepared for the financial complexity of balancing a budget while simultaneously dealing with an ever growing improvements deficit. I believe in the long term and am not afraid to make tough decisions in order to ensure we have a strong education system for the future. Being a young candidate, I can relate to today’s generation of students, and understand many of the issues and challenges they face in school and after graduation. I have studied in several countries internationally, and will use my experiences to help mold our education system into one that prepares students for a rapidly changing world.

2. What changes would you like to see at the school board in the next four years?
I’d like to see more focus on students and less on the union. I’d like to see an effective integration of technology into the classrooms, and I’d like to see it become less difficult for young teachers to find positions. I’d like to see investment into infrastructure, and a reversal of maintenance deferrals.

3. What is your position on the TDSB consolidating under-enrolled schools and selling off closed school properties?
I am supportive of optional attendance, and believe we should keep schools as full as possible. Although I am supportive towards closing severely under enrolled schools, I do not want to see these properties sold. Once a school is gone it is gone! Instead Id like to see these properties rented and potentially used for private or religious education. This keeps the option of re-opening schools in the future while addressing their disproportionate use of school board funds.

4. Do you support the province’s decision to try to negotiate two-year, no wage increase contracts with the school board’s unionized employees when existing agreements expire?
Yes.

5. Please provide personal details on your bio.
Mike Wiener is a resident of St. Paul’s and has lived there since early childhood, attending public schools in the riding. Mike currently holds an Honours in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a MSc in International Management from the CEMS Global Alliance, a joint program of the world’s leading business schools. Studying overseas, Mike gained an appreciation for the new competitive and globalized world, and realized that Toronto’s public school system is not preparing students enough to meet it. Since his return to Canada, Mike has worked in numerous fields, including real estate management, private equity, and manufacturing oversight. As someone passionate about education, Mike ran for St. Paul’s Trustee in the 2006 municipal elections.