Katherine Wagner - Public Education Horizons

Author Archives: Katherine Wagner

Public school trustees and private choices

December 19, 2009 – 2:31 pm

Last week on her blog Report Card, Janet Steffenhagen revealed that 1st term (elected November 2008) Maple Ridge School Trustee Mike Huber’s eldest child is attending kindergarten at a private school.
Responsible parents make choices for their children that are in the best interest of their children. When one parent is a politician the public may have a legitimate interest in certain family decisions but that interest should stop at the point that it becomes a judgment of the choice itself.
Trustee Huber has publicly explained the reasons for the decision and they include access to all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes and [...]

Posted in School trustee role | Tagged Add new tag, ideology, independent school, private school, public education, role of school trustee, school choice | Comments (1)

Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows trustees vote to close two schools

December 9, 2009 – 10:22 pm

It was a long time coming - three years in fact - but the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Board of Education finally made a decision to close two elementary schools at its public meeting this evening.
The evening began with a tense annual organizational meeting, while about fifty parents and teachers from Mount Crescent Elementary gathered in the gallery waiting to learn the fate of their school.

Posted in SD42 Board of Education | Tagged conflict of interest, politics, public education funding, school closure, school trustee, SD42 Board of Education | Comments (3)

The PAC cut you didn’t hear about

December 6, 2009 – 11:45 am

The PAC cut you didn’t hear about
By Katherine Wagner
The Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Times, Friday, December 04, 2009
The BCCPAC Advocacy Project is not well known among the general public or even a vast majority of parents. But for those parents who need advice, information and support, the project and its two contracted advocates, Janet Phillips and Cathy Bedard, are a lifeline.

Posted in Parent Engagement | Tagged achievement gap, Advocacy Project, BCCPAC, Cathy Bedard, DPAC, education, funding, Janet Phillips, PAC, parent involvement | Comments (0)

B.C. Municipal Election Task Force

November 10, 2009 – 11:38 pm

Daphne Bramham’s column in Saturday’s Vancouver Sun was the first I heard of Premier Gordon Campbell’s municipal election task force.

Posted in School Board Elections | Tagged Gordon Campbell, municipal election, politics, school trustee, task force, UBCM | Comments (0)

Polls

November 7, 2009 – 10:53 pm

I am trying out the Poll widget and have created my first poll. (Look to the right, below my twitter feed)
I’ve asked a rather big question and it’s likely you will think of other challenges for the “top three” list.
Please make suggestions in the comment section of this post.
Identifying the challenges is the easy part….finding workable solutions is probably the biggest challenge of all.

Posted in Polls | Tagged challenges, poll, public education, reforms | Comments (0)

Welcome to Public Education Horizons

October 12, 2009 – 7:08 pm

Public Education Horizons replaces my long running (since 1996) geocities website. Geocities shuts down at the end of October. This website is currently under construction and will go “live” sometime in November.
I’m looking forward to the dialogue.
~ Katherine

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Add new tag, Welcome | Comments (0)