As a 35-year career veteran in education; as a teacher, counsellor, school administrator, and district human resources manager, I have always strived for excellence in delivering the highest quality teaching for our Vancouver students. My experience base of working with ESL, Downtown Eastside inner city youth, aboriginals, and Southside youth in five secondary schools, has given me a strong insight on the issues and concerns of students, parents, and teachers in Vancouver.

I am interested in developing an atmosphere of transparent, professional discourse for all employee groups—from trades and supervision aides, to teacher unions and administration, focusing particularly on local points of view and issues, and what the new board could do better, in terms of bringing all sides together for the future of public education.

I stand firm on Vancouver’s need for sustainable funding from the provincial government and will continue to work as part of a team approach to increasing and expanding federal funding for ESL-related settlement issues.

Working from the framework of us all being “life-long learners”, I am interested and excited about the increase in community use of our school facilities to meet the demand for youth activities, senior programs, and community learning.

I stand for high quality, educational delivery—strong fiscal responsibility and equal opportunity for all students. The ESL, aboriginal, and most fragile students in our community need all the support they can get and I will do my utmost to see that it gets delivered into our unique neighborhoods.

Fraser Ballantyne is a Non-Partisan Association candidate for the Vancouver school board.