lowkey
December 15th 05, 05:02 PM
I must say I like the possibility of fewer testosterone impaired teens on
the road in kars. Mebbe they will turn to cycling?
Thoughts?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051214.wxdropout14/BNStory/National/
'Dropouts face loss of driver's licences
By CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Wednesday, December 14, 2005 Posted at 4:40 AM EST
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Ontario plans to become the first province in Canada to deny or suspend the
driving privileges of teenagers if they drop out of school before the age of
18.
The province introduced legislation yesterday that would also see 16- and
17-year-old students who are habitually absent to be fined as much as
$1,000. Parents and employers, too, could be legally reprimanded. Those who
fail to ensure their under-18 children attend class, and employers who hire
students during school hours, could be fined $1,000 -- up from $200 -- under
the proposed bill.
"It is a privilege to have a driver's licence, and one of the corresponding
obligations is to be serious about taking your learning as far as possible,"
Education Minister Gerard Kennedy told a news conference at Queen's Park
yesterday before introducing the legislation.
The incentive being used to keep students in school comes as the province
attempts to cut its dismal dropout rate in half by 2010. Currently, about 30
per cent of students leave high school without a diploma.
If Ontario's new bill is passed, students under 18 will have to present an
acceptable academic record to the Transportation Ministry when applying for
their licence. There will be some exemptions for medical or family
circumstances, the Education Minister said.
"We're going to have a proactive way of saying that the G1 and G2
[graduated] licences can't be applied for if you haven't got a certificate
in good standing to show that you're not habitually truant from school," Mr.
Kennedy said.
The penalty would only come into effect after schools add more co-operative
education programs and courses for struggling students, the government said.
The proposed bill would allow judges to suspend a dropout's driver's
licence.
"We're looking from this point on to rally the province to this basic idea
that we need to confer an education advantage to all students in Ontario,"
Mr. Kennedy said. "Every student deserves a good outcome from high school."
In the past, students found themselves in court and were given fines or put
on probation if they dropped out. In 2003-04, 181 secondary school students
faced a judge.
New Brunswick is the only other province to raise the school-leaving age to
18, but attendance there hasn't improved because the truancy law is not
enforced properly, a recently released C.D. Howe Institute study found. The
province also doesn't tie dropping out to receiving a driver's licence.
Mr. Kennedy said Ontario is taking its lead from the United States. Nine
states, including Alabama and South Carolina, require students to attend
school to get their driver's licence.
Conservative MPP Frank Klees called the government's new legislation a
"hare-brained idea."
"Everyone knows that it's going to be impossible to enforce this. What I
cannot believe is that the minister would waste everyone's time by bringing
legislation like this forward," he said outside the legislature.
Education officials and parents expressed similar scepticism yesterday.
Many say teenagers are more likely to be inspired to stay in school if they
have more specialized courses in manufacturing or hospitality and access to
apprenticeship programs.
"Is this the right incentive?" asked Rick Johnson, president of the Ontario
Public School Boards' Association, about linking dropping out to driver's
licences. "Time will tell."'
the road in kars. Mebbe they will turn to cycling?
Thoughts?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051214.wxdropout14/BNStory/National/
'Dropouts face loss of driver's licences
By CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Wednesday, December 14, 2005 Posted at 4:40 AM EST
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Ontario plans to become the first province in Canada to deny or suspend the
driving privileges of teenagers if they drop out of school before the age of
18.
The province introduced legislation yesterday that would also see 16- and
17-year-old students who are habitually absent to be fined as much as
$1,000. Parents and employers, too, could be legally reprimanded. Those who
fail to ensure their under-18 children attend class, and employers who hire
students during school hours, could be fined $1,000 -- up from $200 -- under
the proposed bill.
"It is a privilege to have a driver's licence, and one of the corresponding
obligations is to be serious about taking your learning as far as possible,"
Education Minister Gerard Kennedy told a news conference at Queen's Park
yesterday before introducing the legislation.
The incentive being used to keep students in school comes as the province
attempts to cut its dismal dropout rate in half by 2010. Currently, about 30
per cent of students leave high school without a diploma.
If Ontario's new bill is passed, students under 18 will have to present an
acceptable academic record to the Transportation Ministry when applying for
their licence. There will be some exemptions for medical or family
circumstances, the Education Minister said.
"We're going to have a proactive way of saying that the G1 and G2
[graduated] licences can't be applied for if you haven't got a certificate
in good standing to show that you're not habitually truant from school," Mr.
Kennedy said.
The penalty would only come into effect after schools add more co-operative
education programs and courses for struggling students, the government said.
The proposed bill would allow judges to suspend a dropout's driver's
licence.
"We're looking from this point on to rally the province to this basic idea
that we need to confer an education advantage to all students in Ontario,"
Mr. Kennedy said. "Every student deserves a good outcome from high school."
In the past, students found themselves in court and were given fines or put
on probation if they dropped out. In 2003-04, 181 secondary school students
faced a judge.
New Brunswick is the only other province to raise the school-leaving age to
18, but attendance there hasn't improved because the truancy law is not
enforced properly, a recently released C.D. Howe Institute study found. The
province also doesn't tie dropping out to receiving a driver's licence.
Mr. Kennedy said Ontario is taking its lead from the United States. Nine
states, including Alabama and South Carolina, require students to attend
school to get their driver's licence.
Conservative MPP Frank Klees called the government's new legislation a
"hare-brained idea."
"Everyone knows that it's going to be impossible to enforce this. What I
cannot believe is that the minister would waste everyone's time by bringing
legislation like this forward," he said outside the legislature.
Education officials and parents expressed similar scepticism yesterday.
Many say teenagers are more likely to be inspired to stay in school if they
have more specialized courses in manufacturing or hospitality and access to
apprenticeship programs.
"Is this the right incentive?" asked Rick Johnson, president of the Ontario
Public School Boards' Association, about linking dropping out to driver's
licences. "Time will tell."'