The Ontario School Funding Formula currently incentivizes local school boards to neglect and close neighbourhood schools. Do you support keeping neighbourhood schools open? If so, how? - Raise the Hammer Elections

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Candidate Responses
Response Summary
Candidates Who Have Not Responded

4 Candidate Responses (top)

Hamilton Centre
Candidate	Brief Response	Full Response
Bob Mann	Yes	Schools should be maintained and expanded as social and cultural neighbourhood centres. Children should not have to travel further and further from their homes to go to school. The funding must come from the province from a pool of money raised from progressive tax reform based on the ability to pay, by doubling the corporate income tax rate to 23% (where it used to be) and restoring the capital tax on corporate wealth. This should be the base for actually expanding social programs and projects.
Donna Tiqui-Shebib	Maybe	I understand the connection families have to their local schools. I also know that decisions about school closures are some of the most difficult faced by school boards. I want to stress though, that these decisions are made at the local level - by elected school boards in response to demographic shifts, and that the only role the province has in the school closure process is to ensure the school board properly consults the community. The provincial government does, however, provide school boards with specific funding to support small, rural and underutilized schools for maintenance and operation. To help ensure that more viable schools are able to remain open, our party will develop and support school-community hubs to promote efficient use of public assets, build better ties between schools and municipalities and other community organizations. The Ontario Liberal Party wants our students to be in buildings that enhance learning. That's why we're providing over $11.6 billion in capital funding for school boards, including funding for over 610 new schools. $49 million is earmarked for Hamilton, and going towards two additions for the HWCDSB and two new schools for HWDSB.
John Vail	Maybe	Thanks for the questions but in my opinion they are better directed to municipal candidates as the questions relate directly to municipal issues and not to provincial issues which are jobs, the provincial economy, the provincial deficit, provincial debt reduction, and lower provincial taxes
Peter Ormond	Yes	The fact that Hamilton's Board of Trustees voted to demolish beautiful old schools and the historic school board building should not be forgotten. Look at the successful Eva Rothwell Centre, now running out of the historic Robert Land School building. Schools are hubs. The buildings should be preserved as community hubs at least. Urban sprawl has to stop as well. There is some intensification happening within the city boundaries. As the intensification continues and the mass transit is built, the inner core and central hubs will again be the desired place to be. This also points to the Green Party policy indicating that the school boards should be merged. It begins with a discussion to determine what opportunities there are for sharing resources. Society is interested in efficiency when comes to electricity and our vehicles. Naturally, then a review of our independent school boards makes sense. Again, it all begins with a discussion.

Response Summary (top)

Brief Response	Count	% of Total
Yes	2	50.0%
No	0	0.0%
Maybe	2	50.0%

2 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)

Hamilton Centre
Andrea Horwath
Peter Melanson