At Home: Parents, educators divided over online school info
Schools from kindergarten to university have long been ranked by a variety of factors, including student/faculty ratio, library funding, and academic performance.
But a new feature on the Ontario government’s website took things a little further: it included data on ?the income, education and immigrant backgrounds of students? parents,? according to the Globe and Mail.
The feature was scrapped after an outcry, but there are those who would like to see it return.
One such group is The Society for Quality Education, consisting of parents and educators. Doretta Wilson, the group’s executive director, told reporters that demographic information (which will remain on the website) can aid families in poorer neighbourhoods as they search for the best possible education for their kids, whereas wealthier families have greater options to select and pay for a private education.
Annie Kidder, a spokesperson for the parent group People for Education, disagreed with posting the data. As she told reporters, ?In small towns, it pits one school against another?the Catholic against the French, or the English against the Catholic?again based only on test scores in two subjects and the demographics of the parents.?
In Foreign News: UK finance jobs pay women 60 per cent less than men
As Scotland’s The Herald reports, women who work in fund management, futures trading, and stockbroking earn ?on average 60% less than men.? That figure, based on a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, puts the wage gap in the financial sector at more than twice the national average.
One contributing factor may be that, although similar numbers of men and women work in the financial sector, women are less likely to work in London, the central hub where many head offices are located. As well, women are not as likely to hold managerial or senior roles, or to have a degree.
Overall, the average female full-time employee in the financial sector earns 55 per cent less per year and 39 per cent less per hour than full-time male employees (both figures based on gross income). The 60 percent wage gap in futures, fund management, and stockbroking was the worst.
While differences in education and managerial status are factors, the pay gap actually increases the higher women rise in their careers. In the lowest-paid jobs, the pay gap between men and women is only 16 per cent. But among the highest earners, ?women earn 45% less than male colleagues.?
When it comes to bonuses the disparity rises even more sharply, with a difference of 79 per cent between men and women.
