The Next Big Idea 10 concepts that could - University of Toronto ...

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Chris Spence, the director of education for the Toronto District School Board, believes in providing parents and students with choices in public education. Under his leadership, alternative schools have flourished.
By Cynthia Macdonald Photography by Brent Lewin Different but Equal Is greater choice in alternative education good for Toronto’s schools In a way, it’s surprising that Chris Spence’s professional football career ended with an injury to his Achilles tendon. As director of education for the Toronto District School Board, he needs heels of steel to fend off the arrows that fly his way each day. Some come from parents, angered about his plan to close schools. Others come from trustees skeptical about his strong ideas on à la carte schooling. And still others from teachers who question the intensity of his old-fashioned idealism, embodied in a bold plan he calls his “Vision of Hope.” “I believe the world’s changing,” Spence says, with the quiet conviction that’s steadied him throughout his remarkable career. “The only thing that isn’t changing is our schools. We have to keep our eyes on the future so we can best prepare our kids for it.” Without doubt, Spence’s biggest enemy is numbers. In Toronto, children have been leaving public education in droves: the system is losing almost 4,000 children each year. A declining birthrate, families with kids moving to suburbia, the attraction of private schools and even home-schooling have caused enrolment to fall significantly over the last decade. Then there is the dropout rate. Roughly 25 per cent of students are not graduating from high school, but this figure rises within certain ethnic groups that Spence intends to target for special attention. These groups include aboriginal and Middle Eastern students, as well as students from Central and South America and the Caribbean, whose dropout rates exceed 40 per cent.
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Page 25 and 26: Leading Edge The Big Idea How Citie
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Page 34 and 35: Clean Power Solid oxide fuel cells
Page 36 and 37: Education for All Why do some immig
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Page 42 and 43: simple changes in kindergarten peda
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Page 63 and 64: In Honour The University of Toronto
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Page 67 and 68: Great Journeys April 10-18 Waterway
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