Commentary
Robin Hood was famous for one thing—robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. This approach might have worked in medieval England but it’s much less appropriate in a modern school board.
Unfortunately, some trustees in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) apparently see themselves as the modern-day successors of Robin Hood. A TDSB committee recently voted to force school councils to give a portion of their fundraising revenues to a centralized fund, which would then be redistributed to schools that were less successful in raising money.
Critics of the proposal, which will be voted on by the full board on April 16, argue that it’s little more than a tax on the volunteer efforts of parents and will lead to a drop in total fundraising revenues. After all, there’s a huge difference between fundraising for the school that your children attend and fundraising for a general fund that may or may not directly benefit your children….