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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-03-03, Page 4Tines -Advocate, Meech 3, 1.11 Ames Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 .1 • Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 c Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited IORNE EED Publisher JIM BECKETT Adsvrti.inl; Manager ' Bill BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386: Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $20,.00 Per year: U.S.A. $55.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and `ABC' Don't stifle public debate The commendation passed on to two officials by the Huron-Perth.Separate School Board for accepting pay increases and ending a public debate on the issue, was partially deserved. • However, the inference that the public was med- dlingin the board's responsibility, should not be dismissed.. Director of education William Eckert commented in .a prepared statement that "What' was a board responsibility was turned into a public issue." Since when was any board responsibility not a mat- ter for public debate? Elected officials indeed have the final say in any decisions, but it is extremely dangerous to infer that the ratepayers they represent should have no input into those decisions if they so choose. Mr. Eckert is also wrong in his suggestion that no good can come to the school system by the director, the board or a group of concerned ratepayers engag- ing in debate, regardless of whether it is a mundane matter or one that has become emotionally charged. Board'officials and board members have a respon- sibility to listen to the opinioins of any ratepayers or • group on any subject prior to making a decision. Failure to do so causes far more harm than what may arise from that debate. The group of concerned citizens who spearhead- ed the movement to encourage the board to stand pat on the salary offers to the two board officials, acted . in an exemplary fashion. They chose to air their views in letters to the editor in 15 newspapers across the two counties and there were certainly nopressure tactics used in attempting to gain support for their position from other ratepayers.\ That they received several hundred responses in- dicates that the matter was of considerable interest to other ratepayers. Hopefully, the ratepayers will continue to show equal interest in all aspects of education within the system and Mr. Eckert will find that public debate can result in some good. • To deny that debate can only result in harmful ef- fects, because it is the very basis of a democratic system which our educators should be espousing at every opportunity. Letter gets things done It's conventional wisdom that letters to the editor are among the most read items in any newspaper. It's pointed out with some regularity on this page that a' letter to the editor is an ideal place to get an opinion, a criticism, a pat on the back, out into the open. This week we've seen proof positive that a letter to the editor also gets things done. It all started a few weeks ago when a group' of Huron and Perth separate school supporters got upset about senior administrators' refusal of what they and the board considered a fair raise proposal. The sup- porters got organized. Then they didn't call radio open line shows, they didn't hold Meetingsall. over two counties. No, they wrote a letter outlining their position and personally delivered it to the office of every newspaper in the two counties. It was . when the Sock it I've just decided to impose some sanc- tions on the Canadian government. I won't beaying income tax in any month in which the letter "x" appears. (Thought of choosing"r" but the oysters have it tied up.i Sure, that's drastic action, but it's in keeping with the stringent sanctions the government recently placed on Poland and the Soviet Union. External ' Affairs Minister Mark MacGuigan hit them with about as much clout as one could generate from a wet noodle. My retaliation stems froni'a belief that if he couldn't have been an • more convin- cing. he would have been far better off to not try any sanctions at all. There are a couple of his ideas that are laughable. and if he was attempting humor. he certainly succeeded. The Poles and Russians must be rolling off their chairs. First of all. in his most condemning and forceful Language. MacGuigan announc- ed that he was suspending the Canadian - Polish academic exchange program. Now•. if you happen to be thinking about the hundreds of intellectuals who will suf- fer from that decree. don't worry your pretty little head about it. in fact. it af- fects exactly three people from each country. Way to go. Mark. sock it to 'em! Secondly, there will be no extension of commercial credits for goods other than food to Poland. A couple of points to con- sider: food accounts for 98 percent of Canadian -Polish trade, so our External Affairs Minister has really uncorked a round -house swing that won't do much damage there. Of course. extending credit for food will be welcomed by the Polish government, which is finding it difficult thousands of readers of those papers had read that letter to th6 editor that things started to move. . One signee, Louis Maloney, says countless petitions in support came in, including one with over 50 signatures. All over Huron and Perth people were call- ing the letter writers. Their stand was a topic of con- versation just, about everywhere when the newpapers containing their letter came out. That letter struck a deep chord in many, many Huron and Perth taxpayers. This week a letter from those who started the hullabaloo says the HPRCSS. board's original offer has been accepted. That will be confirmed at the board's regular meeting Feb. 22, which the concerned ratepayers will attend. .\ But the episode is proof of how much can be ac- complished by a letter to the editor of your .local newspaper. If you've got a concern, try it. Huron Expositor to 'em, Mark to get credit these days because it is vir- tually bankrupt. In keeping with that situation, MacGuigan really out -did himself with another of his sanctions. He's going to delay talks on rescheduling payments of Poland's $1.3 billion debt with Canada. Yes sir, they can just sit there and stew over that debt, but we're not going to discuss how they're going to repay us. BATT'N AROUND with the editor Some Canadian farmers businessmen and home owners should be so lucky to have their creditors impose such sanc- tions and refuse to talk about repayment! Finally, the Canadian government is really goingto crack down on those nas- ty Poles anSoviets by not allowing any increase in the number of flights of the Polish and Soviet national airlines to Canada. The mere fact that they didn't want any increase is inconsequential to those knuckle -rapping ogres in Ottawa. In fairness to Mr. MacGuigan he has termed his sanctions against ,the two countries as more symbolic than real. Symbolic of what? Stupidity, perhaps, but surely not as a reflection of our conem- nation of those two governments or our concern tor the denial of freedom for the Polish people. } , The symbolic sanctions against Russia and Poland constituted onlva portion of the frightening news out of Ottawa this • week. The other was the budget. If taxpayers had been hoping that the moguls in charge of the federal spending would heed their own call for restraint, those hopes were dashed. Spending is to be up by 12.9• percent. depending on whether you want to believe the govern- ment or the opposition. Either way, it indicates that inflation is a target for government words and not ac- tions. Equally discouraging formany Canadians is the implied predicton that interest rates will remain at their current level, or may even jump slightly. Fortunately for most of us. the figures in which the federal government deals are about as confusing as the metric system. Just how• many zeros are there in $76.3 billion, anyway? We're going' to spend that much and yet ironioally some of us don't even know how to write the figure. But that figure is small in comparison to the national debt. it is now estimated at $122 billion. To whom do we owe that money? More importantly, if it'soing to cost each man, woman and child;700 next year just to pay the interest on the debt why don't we just let them foreclose? There's no hope of getting out of debt and declaring bankruptcy appears to be the most merciful way out of the mess. The only problem is that even if the slate was wiped clean, it would probably take our governments about six months to get us back into the same old mess, because unlike Canadian citizens, they don't have to live within their means. None need -stupid label And you think your mail service is lousy! Just the other day I received a let- ter from a lady in Dor- chester Ontario dated July llih, 1981. She was cutting me up about a col- umn which had appeared in, her local paper on July 9th..She must think that I am either an insensitive •brute, or afraid to face up to her criticism. She says: "In this arti- cle you referred to Special Education as `educational argon for teaching stupid ids'." The lady, and I'm not going to use her name without her permission, really flays me forthat careless remark, and I don't blame her. It was stupid and callous, and generated by: an innate digust with educational jargon. • "Special education" ac- quired the same aroma as such euphemisms as "Op- portunity Class," used for kids who had one of: no in- terest in learning, a lear- ning disability, or mental retardation from sdme cause. or other; genetic brain damage, child abuse. These children, who could not cope with the daily, restricted hemispheres of their schooling, were put in a special class, shoved along, and eventually wound up in a secondary school with the odds strongly against . them, probably a year or two older than their class- mates, doomed by the rigidity of the school system to be looked down upon, sometimes affec- tionately, sometimes con- descendingly, by - their teachers and society. They are difficult, these children. Some are men- tally retarded, others are emotionally either retard- ed or screwed up, still others are quite brilliant but have a learning disability of some sort, but they are are lumped together, and, inevitably', wind up feeling lumpish. They are not stupid kids. They see through. Sometimes very clearly, more so than the adults who lump them. I've been sore about this for years. A parent of so- called gifted children can become just as angry about the 19th -century ideas of education in our country as one with learn- ing disabled children. He or she sees these brights ones gradually becoming bored at having to march with the mediocre, rebell- ingN and dropping out or turning off, with often Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley 1414v, - My correspondent writes: "We are the parents of four children, three of whom are lea4'n- ing disabled. O.ne has had a hearing disability as well. They are normal, average people who are in no way disabled in- dividuals. They do hav disability. There is a dif- ference! I would say that their - and our - main handicaps in life are and have been not their disabilities but people like yourself who refer to them as stupid," Mea culpa. I'd like to print the en- tire letter, but haven't space. She says, "I wonder if you are aware...that the label for kids who are 'bright' or 'gifted' comes under the umbrella- of Special Education?" Yes, ma'am, I am. Are you aware that almost nothing has been done about the latter, while millions of dollars have been spent on the others? disastrous results. You'll be glad to know that areat new Children's Crusade is to call those at the top of the heap "Exceptional Students," another euphemism that seeks to avoid.the blunt truth: we are notall born equal, but everyone should have equal opportunity to develop his/her potential to the fullest. You'll also be glad to know, lady, that a great many teachers in what is now called Special Educa= tion are dedicated souls who do everything in their (human) power to help those with learning disablement. But they are not psychologists, Psychiatrists, neur- ologists. They hayed to ewe with tar too many children with far too many types of learning disabilities, whether physical or emotional. They have my deepest admiration. • I have taught "slow learners" classes. I liked them. They were honest andgenerally friendly and kind- A few years ago I met a couple of boys from one'or the these classes, at the bank. They were both working in construction, making almost as much as I. They were withdraw- ing enough money to go to Las Vegas for a week, and try the wild life there. I feltretty small as I plodded home with the groceries to a wild night watching television. Again, my lady writes: "Do you know that Eins- tein, General Patton, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci would be your "stupid kids," in -Special Education classes ifliving now? These gifted and bright people all had lear- ning disabilities. On the other hand, Eins- tein helped discover nuclear fission, Paton was a ..megolomaniac, Chur- chill was turfed out as soon as the war ended and da Vinci contributed to thousands of slipped discs among people straining to look up at the ceiling of the Sistane Chapel. Edison mere) contributed to bad eyesi it and huge hydro bills. ,Just kidding, lady. Main reason they made a,mark is that they were able to overcome or didn't have to go to, high school. You say, finally, "The written word generates in more than one direction! • You, Mr. Smiley, have a wide reader's coverage. I would hope that you could take the time to find out who "Special Kids" are. None of us need that label - stupid". Right. Except for a few columnists. Where is the justice? In a recent edition of a local newspaper there appeared a picture of a young family; mother and dad, two little ones. They seemed to be the es- sence of a happy little group. posing with earnestness for the photographer, with everything good left to live for. Only when you read the little note below from a grieving family left behind do you realize that all four of the people in the picture are flow dead. destroyed in a terri- ble car crash. The photo gripped my heart. Where is the justice. I thought. Why should they be no longer able to live and enjoy life, to face all the problems Wheeler Wilcox will help a little. i know as my life grows • Perspectives By Syd Fletcher that we daily complain of. It just did not seem right at all. Though nothing can totally ease the pain for the bereaved family, maybe this poem by Ella older Andmyeyes have clearer sight That under each rank wrong, somewhere There lies the root of Right; That each sorrow has a purpose, By the sorrowing oft un - guessed, But as sure as the sun brings morning, Whatever is - is best. I know there are no errors In the great Eternal plan, And all things work together For the final good of man; And I know there are no errors In its grand eternal quest, I shall say as I look back earthward, Whatever is - is best.