It's Election Day

Well, we're finally here. Slightly anti-climatic considering the great turn out at the advanced polls. Nevertheless, this is it.

It's been a very interesting and exciting time. Good luck to all the candidates. Now let's see what happens!

Education is Important!

Letter to the Editor of the Daily Courier: Re: School Trustee Election

Leafing through the first section of the Daily Courier Tuesday morning my suspicions were confirmed. The Courier is trying to keep the School Trustee election a secret!

We had our one and only forum Monday night at Hollywood Road Educational Services in front of a rousing and raucous crowd of about 900 people. (That sentence was just to get your attention.) Actually there were about 90 intelligent, well-behaved people, including 13 candidates who spoke.

Many common issues like underfunding, literacy and graduation rates, and transportation concerns were brought up. But interestingly, many of the candidates mentioned the despicable lack of coverage in the media about the School Trustee election, including me.

I fully understand the need for any newspaper to sell newspapers. And I’m sure newspapers do a pretty good job of reading the public as to what they want to read about. So I don’t really blame the Daily Courier that much. However, I think they could help with the understanding that Education (capital “E”) really is important in our society.

A plank in many of the City Council candidates’ platforms has been to address homelessness. I’m sure it has occurred to most people that probably all, or at least a vast majority, of our homeless and street people went to school! We, in Education, are addressing homelessness and poverty right now in our schools, everyday! We are raising our graduation rates. We are raising the graduation rates of Aboriginals. We are, in fact, doing everything we can to keep as many people as possible away from homelessness and poverty. This is happening as you read this, right now.

Here are few interesting facts: School District 23’s operating budget is around $180 to $190 Million per year. The City of Kelowna’s operating budget is around $96 Million. SD 23 employs about 3 times as many people as does the City of Kelowna. School District 23 is the second largest employer in the Okanagan Valley, second only to Interior Health.

With the above in mind, I beseech our public to give Education a very sober second look. We are important. Our only real drawback is that our goals are long-term and the results not quite as tangible as bricks and mortar projects.

Please go to http://www.kelowna.ca/CM/Page3557.aspx or just Google “City of Kelowna” and find your way to the Trustee page. Please take a few moments and read through all of the candidates and give them all a fair shake. Remember, Education really is the cornerstone of our society.

Richard Knight

Presentation at Trustees' Forum

Good evening, welcome guests, fellow candidates. Thank you to COTA and COPAC for organizing this forum. My name is Richard Knight, and I’m running for School Trustee.

I have over 30 years of experience in Public Education, as a teacher, Vice Principal and Principal at the Elementary, Middle and Secondary levels. I also served as Faculty Advisor at UBC Okanagan supervising the practicums of student teachers.

I am a parent of 4, one still in the school system, and I have 2 grandchildren, one in grade 1.

I believe in the universality of education, and I believe we should all work to raise the profile of education in the public eye.

I have three broad areas of focus. Listening to the concerns of all stakeholders. Lobbying the government for better funding, and examining our own budget and how we allocate our funds.

One of the major issues I hear from people is the lack of funding in education. There is no doubt in my mind that education is underfunded. I have heard from people, and seen for myself an erosion of services to Special Needs students and to those in the “grey area”, like students who receive learning assistance, for example. Custodians have been cut, and yet we promote Health and Safety as one of our goals. Rutland Middle was left off the list for capital expenditures, to name a few.

I believe it is crucial to continue lobbying our government for better funding. But because we are experiencing hard times these days, I believe we must also look very closely at how we are spending the money that we have.

To cite one example, our library programs have been cut back considerably over the years, even though “improving literacy” is our top goal in SD 23. What, exactly, are we spending our money on? This is a question I’m very interested in exploring.

I believe in the universality of education. I shudder at the thought of schools lobbying their PAC’s for books, for example. I’m told this is happening.

The more we do these kinds of things, the more the Provincial Government will abrogate it’s responsibility, and the more we will create “have and have not” schools.

One of the most important issues for me in the Kelowna Civic Election has been the election of School Trustees. It's an interesting commentary on our society how little attention Education gets in the media compared to issues of bricks and mortar. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to get better funding.

School District 23 employs about 3 times as many people as the City of Kelowna, by the way. It is the 2^nd largest employer in the Okanagan Valley, next to Interior Health.

We all want to clean up downtown. I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that all of our street people and homeless went to school. How many of our current students will end up on the street? Education is about actualizing long-term goals that will benefit all of us in the years to come. I will work hard to raise the profile of education in the public eye.

I am retired and therefore I have the time. I am committed and passionate about Public Education. And I’ve been living it for most of my adult life.

If you share any of my concerns please vote for Richard Knight on November 19.

Thank you.

What's Important in our Civic Election?

One of the most important issues for me in the Kelowna Civic Election is the election of School Trustees. It's an interesting commentary on our society how little attention Education gets compared to issues of bricks and mortar. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to get better funding.

We all want to clean up downtown. I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that all of our street people and homeless went to school. Did we prepare them for the future? Can we do a better a job? How many of our current students will end up on the street?

I wonder if people are aware that our school district's budget is about double the City of Kelowna's.

On council we need people who are not afraid of development but also have a social conscience. I support people who recognize the importance of a vibrant downtown, but who also understand the issues and concerns of the less fortunate. If you read and listen to our candidates' platforms, it's clear who these people are.

Advance and Mail in voting

Here's a list of advance polls and their locations:

Wednesday, November 9

Parkinson Recreation Centre

Okanagan College

Wednesday, November 16

Parkinson Recreation Centre

UBC Okanagan Campus

Wednesday to Friday, November 16 - 18

City Hall

Click here for more information.

Also, you can vote by mail if you'll be out of town. Click here to see how.

There are options for voting available for people with disabilities as well. Click here.

If you want all the information at once including "Special Voting" and more click here.

Please remember to vote on November 19 or before. Exercise your democratic right.