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10 THE RURAL VOICE
Jeffrey Carter
Put children before dollars and cents
Jeffrey
Carter is a
freelance
journalist
based in
Dresden,
Ontario.
Public education and the issue of
school closures became a significant
issue in Ontario during the election
campaign. Only time will tell just
how many rural schools will close
over the course of the new
government's mandate.
Annie Kidder, spokesperson for
People for Education, has been at the
forefront of the debate for many
years. She says rural schools often
represent the heart of rural
communities. Their losts, she says, is
a blow not only to the educational
welfare of students but to the
economic well-being of the affected
communities.
"The closures are changing the
face of rural Ontario, at least it's a
big part of what's changing it,"
Kidder says.
Kidder went on to say that the
closure of schools is part of a larger
trend in rural Ontario. It's linked to
Toss and deterioration of other
services and the continuing struggle
of family farmers. The family farm,
Kidder indicated, is key to the
success of rural Ontario.
Not bad for a city girl.
Kidder represents the kind of ally
that rural Ontario needs, someone
from the city (the Greater Toronto
Area) who has fair grasp of the
challenges being faced by people in
the countryside.
I talked to Kidder a couple of
weeks before the actual vote on
October 2. This column was written
that same day. She said that not one
of the major parties in Ontario
appeared prepared to guarantee that
the closures would end.
So the issue remains.
Over the past several years, the
Tory government has thrived through
a policy of divide and rule. Former
premier Mike Harris began with his
assault on welfare recipients soon
after he was first elected, slashing
their benefits. Among the victims that
followed, the so-called "special
interest groups," were healthcare
workers and teachers.
It's important that the citizens of
Ontario maintain a united front in
the light of this unenviable record.
Hopefully, the new government can
turn to a new page and play a leading
role in fostering this type of
cooperative approach.
This is especially important when
the issue of school closures comes
up.
The issue often pits rural Ontario
against their urban neighbours as
each vies for scarce educational
dollars. School closures can be just as
traumatic in urban areas.
Worse, rivalries can develop
between neighbouring communities
within school board districts, as those
boards decide whose school to close.
Closures are occasionally
necessary but it's a wrong-headed
approach, and short-sighted, to begin
the process for purely economic
reasons. The future of our greatest
resource — our children — is a
matter of greater importance than
those related to dollars and cents.
Instead, as Kidder insists,
government and society should begin
by first setting the standards for
excellence in education. That may
mean establishing a Charter of Rights
for Education, making excellent
public education a right in the
province as was suggested by
Howard Hampton and the
NDP. Only then should the most
economically efficient means of
delivering that excellence become the
subject for discussion.0
The Rural Voice
welcomes your opinions for
our Feedback letters to the
editor column.
Mail to: The Rural Voice,
PO Box 429, Blyth, ON NOM 1H0