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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-03-29, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2000. C itizenTheNorthHuron (♦CNA P.O Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil Member Ontario Press Council P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62.00/year in U.S.A, and $100/year in other foreign coun­ tries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 09244 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 1374990 Give us the information E ditorial Huron-Bruce MPP Helen Johns called again, Saturday, for an audit of the Avon-Maitland District Board of Education. It’s a call that all parents and taxpayers in Huron and Perth Counties should support. Caught between the government and the school board, it has been impossible for ordinary people to know which version of the education debate to believe. For instance, speaking to the annual Members of Parliament dinner of the Huron County Federation of j ~ | Agriculture on Saturday, Johns, claimed the local school board had overspent on teachers’ salaries this year by a half-million dollars. Local politicians and representatives of farm organizations in the room had no way of knowing if what she said was true, or if her estimate was based on some unrealistic formula developed by government bureaucrats in Toronto. As one observer later noted, there are teachers in Huron who have more than 30 students in a class but others with 14, because there just aren’t enough students in that age group in that area. Reality some­ times doesn’t conform to neat formulas. What is needed is something like the independent judicial reviews often appointed to look into complicated issues where politics could cloud an issue. The school board is audited each year, at great expense, but that doesn’t really give the kind of evaluation needed. Much of this information is passed on to the Ministry of Education but when it’s released, we’re not sure what political spin has been put on the issue. We need some knowledgeable, independent observer who can review the books and look at the policies and tell us what the reality is. Then, and only then, will confused parents, taxpayers and voters have the informa­ tion to make sense of complicated issues. — KR Photo by Bonnie Gropp Cut the cheap shots Teacher bashing is such a tempting activity. Teachers get paid more than most of the people who support them with their taxes. They get two months off in the summer and extended vacations for Christmas and win­ ter break. And besides, most of us still harbour resentments from mis­ treatment real or imagined, by teachers in our own school days. But the teacher bashing practised so readily by the provincial govern­ ment goes too far. Last week Premier Mike Harris, for instance, said he will legislate that teachers must take part in extracurricular activities. When one local politician attending the Members of Parliament meeting in Clinton Saturday, pointed out teachers forced into doing something weren’t likely to do the work with the enthusiasm necessary, Huron- Bruce MPP Helen Johns said teachers should be expected to do the work because they only worked six and a half hours a day, including lunch hour and time off for class preparation. Now anyone who claims to know as much about education as Johns should know that for the majority of teachers, that’s a blatant injustice. Most teachers don’t show up for work at 9 a.m.; many are there by 8 a.m. Most teachers don’t leave school at 3:30 p.m.; many stay much later help­ ing students, preparing the next day’s class or volunteering for extra cur­ ricular activity. Many teachers don’t get a whole lunch hour off because they’re supervising lunch rooms or outdoor activities. And that doesn’t even include the work teachers take home at night. To suggest teachers only work a six-and-a-half-hour day is similar to suggesting that Johns, as a cabinet minister, has been drawing a pay cheque for doing nothing since the legislature started winter recess on Dec. 23. It would be like saying that MPPs, who only sat in the legisla­ ture a few weeks all of last year, didn’t earn their $78,000 salaries. Or it would compare to claiming Premier Harris, who has worked 42 days and taken 53 off since the legislature recessed in December, is cheating the public. In other words, it’s unfair. We all know Ms Johns has been working hard both for her con­ stituents and for her ministry. We know that MPPs’ jobs involve much more than making speeches or voting in the ;egislature. There are com­ mittee meetings, there is work to be done on behalf of constituents, there are weekend meetings like the one Ms Johns attended on Saturday. We also know the long hours and pressure of Premier Harris’s job means he needs more time off than a worker on the GM assembly line. But there’s pressure on teachers too (would you want to stand up in front of 30 kids for five or six hours a day?). They don’t need the extra pres­ sure caused by such political cheap shots.— KR Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen March 27,1974 The Blyth Bantams led the Ontario Minor Hockey Association Bantam E semi-final series against Huron Park two games to none. Jim Britnell, county engineer and president of the Ontario Good Roads Association painted a less than bright picture for county coun­ cil at the March meeting. Although the road budget was to remain about the same as the previ­ ous year with the county raising $738,000 the program fell consider­ ably short of the amount of work the county had hoped to do. Britnell said several projects had to be deleted from the budget in order to avoid raising the requirement of county funds. The annual crop information day of the United Co-operatives of Ontario Belgrave branch was held at the WI Hall in Belgrave. A good number of area farmers took advan­ tage of the event to learn more about fertilizer and other crop information. The keys to a new $6,500 van for transporting patients at Huronview to outside events were presented by the Ladies Auxiliary. March 28, 1990 Teams of municipal councils and media vied for the Maple Madness award at Maple Keys. Hullett Twp. took the award for the second year in a row. Plans for servicing the Industrial Park at the north end of Brussels for water, roads and hydro were to commence on the condition that four of the nine lots were sold. Support was building for the Rutabaga Festival. Todd Rice accepted the Don Higgins Memorial Trophy for the goalie displaying the grea­ test skills in ability and sportsman­ ship while playing for a Brussels Minor Hockey team. Midget Coach Gary Dauphin presented the award. Brussels firefighters Murray McArter, Don Crawford, Ross Somers and Doug Sholdice com­ peted in the annual Wingham Firefighter Dart tournament and claimed the A trophy. Margaret Jarvis took first place at the Lions Club Regional Effective Speaking contest in Brussels. She advanced to the contest in Blyth which she also won. Joe and'Deb Seili returned from a two-week holiday to Europe. Keith Williamson, Grey Twp.’s rep for the Huron County Home and Farm Safety Association pre­ sented Lori Ann Black with a first place award for her poster, which was selected from entries of all Huron County tours. Murray Gaunt spoke to Walton WI and guests about his Cuban agriculture tour. Members of the Brussels Sprouts received awards at the banquet. Members were: Stephen Todd, Matthew Elliott, Matthew Clarkson, Chad Fischer, Ian Thompson, Justin Ruttan, Nolan Krotz, Matthew McCall, Chris Coulter, Marc Fischer, Andy Van Beek, Carla Hunt, Kenny McCallum, Joel Hemingway, Joel Kellington, Joshua Gropp, Rob Kerr, Matthew McLellan. Belgrave Atoms won the year- end tournament and Blyth Novices won the WOAA E champi­ onship. Grey Central skippers raised over $3,300 for the Heart and Stroke Foundaiton March 29,1995 Ontario PC leader Mike Harris delivered his “common sense solu­ tion” in Wingham when he visited the riding with candidates Barb Fisher, Helen Johns and Bert Johnson. Winners of the Brussels Curling Club award were Mike Alexander, Trevor Bowles, Annette Lewington, George Zwep. Winning the ladies trophy wereLinda Saur, Marg Taylor, Gloria Wilbee and Doris Fischer. The Blyth Bantams won the WOAA championship. As part of an integration work­ shop at The Ark young people assumed a disability for a portion of an afternoon. Helen Stonehouse who retired as the Belgrave correspondent after over 20 years, received a plaque in appreciation of her work. Scott Pettigrew resigned as Bulls coach.