Times Advocate, 1999-09-15, Page 44
Exeter Times—Advocate
Wednesday, September 15, 1999
Acup ii44
Editorial&Opinion
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Voe
EDITORIAL
"Rehabilitation" the
goai.of teacher
competency tests
ike Harris chose the week before school
goes back to outline a "rehabilitation"
plan for teaches who fail the as -yet-= -
non existent competency testing. b.
The premier announced that teachers who fall com-
petency tests, which are slated to begin in the year._
2000, will be given an opportunity at "rehabilitation"
but could ultimately lose ;their, jobs if their skills are not
up to standard.
The choice of words is interesting. Rehabilitation is
sometimes used to describe the process of fixing up old
gravel pits and garbage dump sites, but the most com-
mon usage of the word involves helping people back
into society after: they serve a term in prison, or suffer
a serious illness or injury.
The word was correctly used in Harris' speech, but
its common "association with criminals was surely no
accident, It was an insult.
Only a fool would believe every teacher in the
province of Ontario is competent, skilled and sane.
There are people in every profession whose ability to
work has. n impeded by illness, both physical and
menf } _ ance abuse, and by low, old fash-
ioned "burn -out".
Perhaps the proposed testing of teachers will force
the secret alcoholics out into the open so they can get
treatment. Perhaps the testing will enable the authori-
ties to. "do something". about the occasional flat earthist
or neo-Nazi:
Then again, perhaps it will do nothing at all. By.
nature of the academic background required toeven
enter teacher's college, teachers may not be great at
actual teaching, but they tend to be masters at taking
tests. As long as the neo-Nazi keeps his views to him-
self the day his teaching technique is observed, he
should be safe to continue as before.
Of course, no one at this point knows what form the
tests will take. Classroom observation is one possibility,
as is knowledge testing. No one knows who will do all
the observing and marking, and no one knows who
pays for the exercise. All we know at this point is it will
happen, and soon. And we know what will happen to
those. who fail' to make the grade.
Yet to be worked out, along with the test format, is
how "rehabilitation" will fake place. Will it involve a
summer class or two? W411 the teacher be .able do
appeal any decision or order? How many chances to
they get at writing the test? Is it three strikes and out,
or as many as it takes?
The . big factor is the cost of testing. Perhaps the
province's .new school funding formula will provide
adequate finances, but most parents, at least in this
area, would probably prefer to see a few more dollars
spent on buying teaching manuals to go with the new
textbooks,, on providing desperately needed renova-
tions AO some local schools, on hiring a few more
teachers so our children can have a reasonable selec-
tion of courses.
Most parents would likely prefer to see teacher test-
ing placed _on the back burner, at least for now, and
more tune,. energy .and financial resources devoted to
providing new curriculum training to teachers, the vast
majority of whom are both competent and skilled,
albeit a bit shell-shocked. The policy of introducing
more poorly thought out 'changes and- watching to see
who 'founders under the pressure is at best ineffective,
and at worst cruel.
Surely our precious children, who are, after all, soci-
ety's most valuable resources, deserve the best we can
give them. That does not mean teachers more worried
about scrambling to keep up with .the latest edict from
Queen's Park, than they are about providing an excel-
lent learning environment for their students.
LI'll be hitting the streets Sunday
The day was hot and sunny for last year's Terry Fox
Run. The atmosphere alive with enthusiasm as men,
women and children made their way along the streets
and township roads.
Out of all the people I saw, one woman caught my
eye. I'm guessing she was in her 70s. She didn't
wear high tech walking shoes or a T-shirt pro-
claiming her crusade. She walked alone and
kept her'own pace -- lagging behind the young-
sters but maintaining a determined gait.
I didn't stop to take her picture or ask her why
she was there because I didn't want to interfere
with her journey. I don't know her story but her
effort in last year's Terry Fox Run is the reason
I'm participating this year.
I'm not very proud of the fact this is the first
time I'm in this worthwhile event to raise funds
for cancer research. Like many people, my fami-
ly and friends have been affected by cancer.
Some have won the battle but more often
than not, cancer has ended lives too early.
Yes, I should have been in the Terry Fox
Run for years ,.14
raised since the event began 19 years ago. Last year,
$5.2 was raised, in Ontario and more than $8,000 was
raised locally.
With the enormous popularity, it's easy to say some-
one else will do it but the money each person raises is
important.
This week it's the Terry Fox Run. Next time,
it could be multiple sclerosis, heart disease,
asthma or any one of a number of good caus-
es.
In a perfect world, government funding
would be enough to find cures for diseases.
But since no amount of lobbying is going to
change thatfact, it's up to all of us to get off
the couch and help fund the research and
services. (Myself, I'd like to see senators, MPS
and MPPs out hitting the streets orselling
chocolate bars to raise money for their pen-
.
KATE
MONK ....
KATE'S
TAKES
sions.) .
And when people ask you for a donation,
give as much as you can. What goes
around, comes around and you never
know when sickness will strike you or your
family.
Terry's dream was a world free of can-
cer and he ran an average of 27 miles
every day for 143 days until he was forced:;
to stop by the disease he was trying to
defeat. 4
Let's hope we can make Terry's dream
become a reality.
Everyone running, walking, biking or itri
roller blading in Sunday's event will have
their personal. reasons for participating but
the common thread is the desire to find a
cure for cancer.A*J
The Terry Fox Run has become a mor1 �
'`-
strous fund-raiser, attracting over one mil-
lion participants at 5,000 run sites in 50
countries. More than $220 million has been
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