WEBSITE: www.rutledgetrustee2010.com

EMAIL: prutledgetrustee2010@gmail.com

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1. Why are you the best candidate for trustee?
I have the experience of being the Trustee 2000-2006, I am completely committed to kids as evidenced by my work in creating the DeMar Slam Dunk Book Club a literacy and basketball program for boys. This job requires you to be accountable to the students and their parents and I have always adhered to that principle. I have no allegiance to former colleagues ie: Principals and Teachers or the Unions and as such have the kids as my primary focus. I believe we can do better if we focus more on Students and Literacy and less on Politics.

2. What changes would you like to see at the school board in the next four years?
I would like to see the schools be more open to outside community partnerships, obviously with the important caveat being school safety. In this community we have 100’s of retired educators who still have experience and skill that the schools can use. I know some schools already do this, but I would like to see all the schools actively encouraging more outside assistance from competent and reliable people in the community.

3. What is your position on the TDSB consolidating under-enrolled schools and selling off closed school properties?
The reality today is that we have declining enrolment that is trending further down. Many couples are waiting longer to have families and those families are not anywhere near as large as when these schools were first built. (During Baby Boom) Even with increased immigration it may take 20 years to realize the numbers to make many of these schools viable. Even so, by then the buildings will be completely out of date. In the mean time 250 kids sit in a port a pack at St. Margarets PS because we can’t afford an addition. How is that fair?

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?
Let me answer it this way; I believe good teachers and good employees are worth gold. I understand the fiscal reality, but it wasn’t like we didn’t know it could come. The bigger issue and the one where I believe we as a Board can make a better deal is in the area of Teacher performance and seniority. Too often bad teachers are protected by seniority and that lends itself to a lot of problems for kids. It is a bigger issue than salaries for me. A bad teacher can undo the work of 3 good teachers.

5. Please provide personal details on your bio.
I left 4 years ago because I felt disconnected from kids. I wasn’t making as big a difference for them as I wanted. These past 4 years I established the DeMar Slam Dunk Book Club with Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan. It is a sports and literacy after school program. You can check it out on Facebook. Running this program energized me. I have had many people encouraging me to run, Nadia Bello’s decision not to run again made the decision easy. My focus now is on kids, not politics, I believe as Trustee I can make an even bigger difference.