With the facilitator about to be appointed by the Ministry of Education to investigate the process by which the decision to close PCVS was taken, there needs to be some informed discussion of the economic realities of our time and the significance of the decision in terms of Peterborough’s potential for future economic growth.
To see the closing of a school simply in terms of providing an education for our young people neglects the econonic realities of education. KPRDSB funding, and its abilities to hire teachers and maintain its schools – is directly tied to the economy – locally and provincially. Local property taxes – residential and business – are a consider portion of the revenue the KPRDSB has to deliver education. A shrinking economy -locally and provincially – means a dimisnished ability to deliver education here in Peterborough. Fortunately, education has the ability to grow an economy, and the latest work in economic growth points to the creative abilities of people as the engine of econoic growth.
Richard Florida of the University of Toronto, an internationally recognized authority on economic growth clearly shows that those cities with a vibrant and growing ‘creative class’ are the ones best positioned for future economic growth. It is time that we looked at this perspective more thoroughly.
Click here for a more detailed discussion of the issue.
