New Interactive Online Tool Puts Spotlight on School Board Data

TORONTO - A new interactive website launched by the Society for Quality Education will give the Ontario public especially taxpayers, policymakers, and parents - for the first time ever - the chance to easily and quickly compare the effectiveness of publicly-funded school boards on education funding, spending, and academic achievement.

"We are calling the site Sunshine on Schools Ontario," explains Doretta Wilson, executive director of the SQE, "because it will shine a light on school board data which up until now, although publicly available, were scattered and often difficult to locate. This site gathers the data into one online location that is simple to access."

Wilson notes that visitors to the Sunshine on Schools Ontario site will be able to compare, at one time, up to five school boards' data in a variety of items such as: enrolment, class sizes, school board debt, and academic achievement. The site can be found at www.sunshineonschools.ca.

Visitors will be able to see and compare the diverse range of each board's per-student spending, ever-increasing amounts raised through fundraising, and the growing trend of declining enrolment versus increased spending.

"This site is not about judging school boards," says Wilson, "We just want to provide the public with facts so that they can decide how wisely their local boards are spending their tax dollars. We hope that the public will regard our Sunshine on School site as a resource designed to help them be better informed."

The Society for Quality Education is dedicated to the significant improvement of student learning in Canada. We invite journalists to visit Sunshine on Schools Ontario at www.sunshineonschools.ca.