Welcome to the latest edition of our monthly e-newsletter, a compilation of the most relevant and interesting news articles, reports, and studies related to issues and trends shaping our communities and public education.
Provided to you by the indefatigable staff at the Centre for Civic Governance.
In this Issue:
- Do Better Schools Help the Poor?
- IQ the New Factor in Denying Services to the Disabled in BC
- Sustainability Linked to Happiness
- International Local Government GHG Emissions Analysis Protocol
- 4-Day Week for Rural US Students and Utah State Employees
- Urban Tourism Issues
- Ottawa Property Tax Reform
- Non-Resident Taxes in Kaslo
- New Composting Program in Port Coquitlam
Do Better Schools Help the Poor?
This article in the Christian Science Monitor
looks at two conflicting theories as to why disadvantaged children do poorly in
school. One theory holds that teachers can only do so much to help
these children and there are too many factors outside of their control
to have an effect on student performance. The other side of the debate
argues performance would improve if schools were more rigidly
structured, more accountable, and parents had a choice as to which
school to send their child. Using data from Washington, D.C. this
article supports the first theory and shows that socio-economic
background of the family is a major determining factor in how well a
student will perform in school.
IQ the New Factor in Denying Services to the Disabled in BC
In July 2008 the BC government privately signed a new order that will
deny access to services (such as housing) to developmentally disabled
people with an IQ above 70. In 2007 a BC Court of Appeal ruled that the
government did not have the authority to deny services based on IQ and
this July 2008 order was designed to allow the government to sidestep that ruling.
Although Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman has said
that this new criterion of what it means to be disabled was signed as a
temporary measure, groups who advocate on behalf of the developmentally
disabled say they were not consulted or given any warning about it.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Representative for Children and Youth BC,
says the wording isn't even clear that the definition applies only to
adults and fears that disabled teenagers could be made homeless because
of it. Read an excellent opinion piece on the issue in the Vancouver Sun. The website of the BC Association for Community Living
contains a comprehensive list of articles about this recent government
move as well as how the June 2008 provincial cabinet shuffle will
adversely affect people with disabilities.
Sustainability Linked to Happiness
The New Economics Foundation has released its latest Happy Planet Index,
which shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert their
natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The
more efficiently they do this, the better the score. The top 6 scorers
on the Index (in order) are: Vanuatu, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica,
Panama, and Cuba. Canada ranks 111 and the United States rates 150. Zimbabwe is at the bottom. The Christian Science Monitor has written a very insightful article about the report,
pointing out that people who bike more, buy second-hand, and recycle
tend to be happier than those who seek wealth, power, and fame. The
article then asks the question, "Could a wrong-headed approach to
seeking happiness be exacerbating some of the world's environmental
problems? And could learning to be truly content help mitigate them?"
International Local Government GHG Emissions Analysis Protocol
Since November 2007, ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) has been working with many organizations
including the UN Environmental Program, the International Energy
Agency, FCM, and ICLEI cities and stakeholders, to develop an easily
implemented set of guidelines to assist local governments in
quantifying GHG emissions from their internal operations and from their
community as a whole. The document consists of the general principles
and philosophies that any local government, regardless of location,
should adhere to when doing a GHG inventory. Release Version 1.0 of the
Protocol is now available and ICLEI is welcoming any comments and
feedback. Click here for more information about the Protocol and to download it.
4-Day Week for Rural US Students and Utah State Employees
The state of Utah has instituted a mandatory 3-day weekend for all state employees, except state police officers, prison guards, court employees, and employees at public universities. Starting in August, between 17,000-24,000 state employees will work ten-hour days from Monday to Thursday. The state is hoping that by being able to turn off the lights, heat, and air conditioning in 1,000 of its 3,000 every Friday, it will save $3 million per year and reduce GHG emissions by about 3,000 metric tons. Read the full article.
Many rural school districts across the U.S. are considering switching
to a 4-day week mainly to save on transportation costs. To date, 100 schools in
16 states have made the switch. One school district reports
saving $65,000 on transportation alone. Read an article about the initiative.
Urban Tourism Issues
City Mayors
has started a new section on urban tourism on its website. Although the
section is not yet fully complete, it intends to tackle issues such as
the importance of sustainable urban tourism and international tourism
promotion. For now you can read about civic tourism and how to boost a
local economy without harming the local character of the place. For a
different perspective on this issue, check out this article posted in
the Post Carbon Cities blog, which points out the danger of focusing on tourism in light of the energy crisis.
Ottawa Property Tax Reform?
City of Ottawa officials are anticipating a public backlash when new property tax assessments are mailed out later this year. Increases in property values, which had previously been frozen for the past three years, have promped the city to begin an advertising campaign to alert residents to the fact that the province controls the assessment system and the city has little control. Ottawa is calling on the province to overhaul the municipal tax system. This article in the Ottawa Citizen also points out that many U.S. states and almost all European countries have moved away from the property tax system.
Non-Resident Taxes in Kaslo
The town of Kaslo, BC (population 1,000) has seen its real estate values skyrocket because of speculation by out-of-town property owners. Mayor Jim Holland is proposing the creation of a new property tax class which would apply to absentee property owners. This new tax class would give each municipality the option to decide the amount of taxes to be paid on non-resident properties. In July Kaslo municipal council voted to take the proposal to UBCM to gain support. Read the full article.
New Composting Program in Port Coquitlam
On July 14, 2008 Port Coquitlam launched its composting program. Single-family homes are being asked to divert vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and fresh fruit scraps from the garbage to their lawn trimmings bin, to be collected at the curbside. The City is hoping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills by 16-26% per year, which is part of Metro Vancouver's plan to divert 70% of waste currently going to dumps by 2015. Port Coquitlam's composting program should also lower waste disposal costs: hauling garbage costs $68/tonne while kitchen and garden waste costs $50/tonne. Read an article about the recycling program or visit Port Coquitlam's Kitchen Green Waste Collection Program website. Alternatively, this article points out the drawbacks to massive composting programs and proposes a smaller neighborhood composting scheme that would generate clean energy.