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Tom Baker
Candidate for: Halton District School Board Trustee
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Tom Baker, 55, is uniquely qualified to represent the residents of Wards 2 and 4 as Trustee of the Halton District School Board.
One of the main issues I will address is protecting public education, Tom says. We must stop creeping commercialization in Halton schools. Our kids’ health and academic success is not for sale.
In 2008-2009, People for Education says your Board depended on more than $20 million in funding from fees, vending machines and business largess. Obviously this is a serious funding problem, baker explains.
Tom Baker believes that our community must reduce the amount of unhealthy food in our schools, and end our children’s addiction to vending machine junk food.
There are severe problems in out school system. Students are frightened at school, do not do well, and many come to school hungry, Baker says.
According to the Halton District School Board’s 2008/09 School Effectiveness Study many kids do not feel safe at school.
Results of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test it is clear that literacy skills are stagnating. Incredibly one-fifth of our grade 10 students are not on track to graduate from high school.
10,000 Halton kids face food insecurity, reports Statistics Canada.
It has been proven time and again that without proper nutrition kids can’t learn. They are easier to distract, and violence becomes a bigger threat.
It’s time to promote healthy eating in our schools and expand Halton Food For Thought school nutrition programs so that all students have an equal chance to learn, said Baker.
Kids who get proper nutrition do better at school. As School Trustee I will champion better nutrition standards at the Halton District School Board.
A life long resident of Burlington, Tom Baker is a graduate of Burlington Central High School. He continued his education at McMaster University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Arts degree.
A long career in working with equity-seeking groups led to his current position as a job evaluation specialist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
He has extensive experience in working with the community, having helped pioneer recycling in Burlington with the Citizens’ Committee for Pollution Control, worked as an executive assistant at the Toronto Board of Education, served as treasurer of Foodshare and participated on the executive of the Ontario Health Coalition.
As a researcher, he has published a number of articles, papers and commentaries on the educational system.
He lives in Ward 4 with his wife of 31 years, Eva Guzewski. Their two children, who graduated from Lord Elgin and Nelson High Schools, continue to work and study in the area.
