WEBSITE: www.shaunchen.ca

EMAIL: shaun@shaunchen.ca

PHONE: 416-893-9802

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1. Why are you the best candidate for trustee?
As the current Trustee, I have supported four consecutive balanced budgets that have brought in change to better strengthen our school system. New investments in special education and ESL have helped to meet diverse student needs. I am proud of these accomplishments, but there is more work to be done. Capital funds are needed to repair aging schools, while a full review of the funding formula is overdue. Scarborough-Rouge River deserves a strong voice for public education, and that is why I am the best candidate. With your support on Oct. 25, I will continue to fight for better schools.

2. What changes would you like to see at the school board in the next four years?
The challenges before the school board are imminent and real. Currently, the TDSB faces a backlog of $2.8 billion needed for capital upgrades and renewal. In Scarborough, portables have become a permanent fixture at many school sites, while hundreds of students are bussed to faraway schools due to inadequate local facilities. One of my priorities is capital reinvestment into the suburbs, including Scarborough, where more families reside. As well, I am committed to supporting environmental education and green infrastructure, such as solar panels on school roofs, as well as ensuring the success for our most marginalized students.

3. What is your position on the TDSB consolidating under-enrolled schools and selling off closed school properties?
Generating capital dollars through school closures and consolidations ought to be the last resort. That is why I am committed to advocating for a new funding formula for the TDSB, one that recognizes the uniqueness of a large, urban school board with aging infrastructure in dire need of repair. Concerning “under-enrolled” schools, it is important to consider the potential impact of demographic change. For example, our aging population will result in greater demand for adult education. Has the TDSB fully considered opportunities for lifelong learning – or heath services and community hubs – at these “under-enrolled” schools?

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?
I believe that negotiation is the key to finding common ground. Whether is it with our students, parents, residents, community partners or employee groups, it is by seeking shared solutions that we are able to work together. In the current fiscal climate, it is the prerogative of the provincial government to set the tone for negotiations with employee groups across Ontario. As a Trustee, I am in favour of shared solutions that ensure stability in public education. After all, we have the all too important task of enabling our children for the challenges of an increasingly globalized world.

5. Please provide personal details on your bio.
Named by Maclean’s as one of “100 young Canadians to watch,” Shaun Chen is a prolific community leader who has articulated with passion the voices of his generation. Following his election to the TDSB as Trustee for Scarborough-Rouge River, Shaun was elected in 2008 as Alternate Enrolment Vice President of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association. He also served on the Children’s Services Advisory Committee, supporting new child care spaces across the city. Shaun holds his BSc in computer science and MA in education from the University of Toronto, where he is currently a PhD student in sociology of education.