March 27, 2010 – 11:24 am
This post is an addendum to yesterdays post B.C. Public Education - Who is minding the shop?
“Transparency” is a popular word used to describe the concept of open government. But what, exactly, does in mean in practical terms?
Here is my working definition. I welcome comments and suggestions.
Government/public institution transparency consists of four key components:
The depth and breadth of the information available to the public
The effectiveness of communication around what information is available
The ease and convenience of locating the information
The level of accessibility of the information to the average member of the public. For example, formatting and plain language packaging.
Trustees not authors of reform
School Watch by Katherine Wagner
The Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows Times, March 26, 2010
A cabinet minister proposes a provincial government transparency task force. The premier holds an open vote in the legislature on the idea. MLAs reject the task force on the grounds “they already share enough information with the public.” Legislative reporters write about it. The public doesn’t react and MLAs take this as a sign they made the right decision.
Sound implausible? Substitute your elected school trustees, and the above scenario played out in Maple Ridge last month.
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 [...]
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.
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