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The Wingham Advance Times, 1995-05-17, Page 44 vgingljent ftp' 11Y. a -i bite$ Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, S•Diagonal Road, Wingham,Onrario NOG 2W0 Phone (519) 357-2320 • Fax: (519) 357-2900 I.W. Eedy Publications. Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 We are: Jim Beckett - Publisher Audrey"Currie- Manager Cameron J. Wood - Editor ,btorma Colley - Ad. Rep. Jim Brown - Reporter Stephen Pritchard - Comp. Eve Buchanan - Office Louise Welwood-Office `ditorraj Viewpoint WVINESD1D MAT 14 1895 It s not enough to say that we want better education for our chil- dren. It's not enough to say that parents ought to be involved, or even that parents shall be involved, in the education of their children and in the affairs of their children's school. Saying that something should happen - even legislating that it pmust happen - does not guarantee that it will happen. And in the articular matter of the proposed school councils, the goals• -stated by the'Royal Commission on Learning, by the provincial government and by the Ontario Parent Council will simply not be achieved. In fact, just the opposite may result. Instead of encouraging open And constructive parent involvement, the proposed councils, will more likely stifle it. Instead of enhancing quality of education, the proposed school councils would more likely reduce the quality of education. Here's why. First, parents do not need the blessing of the provincial govern- ment to create an active home and school association. Any parent who feels aggrieved because a principal was uncooperative or intim- idating"need only address these concerns to the principal's boss - the superintendent - or to the elected trustee. Second, any parent who now feels too shy or too intimated to be involved in the relatively informal atmosphere of existing home and school associations, will certainly be no less discouraged by the in- creased formality in both the structure and mandate of the proposed school councils. And third, to be at all effective, the councils must operate in an environment of mutual respect and cooperation among parents, teachers and administrators. This is the atmosphere that now charac- terizes many existing home and school associations. However, to dictate that school councils advise the principal on such professional matters as curriculum and the hiring of teachers and that parents participate in performance reviews of teachers will promote confrontation and suspicion, not healthy dialogue. It will not integrate parents, teachers and administrators into a cohesive and constructive unit, but will rather polarize them into opposite and per- haps even warring camps - all to the detriment of our children and their education. . Indeed, many home and school associations, including my own at Seneca Hill Elementary School, regularly discuss school policies and curriculum. The principal not only welcomes these dialogues, he often initiates them. Each parent feels free to raise questions and to express concerns or support. But the school councils are being established as parent advocacy groups. By analogy, they would be like the Official Opposition in Parliament whose fundamental role is to attack the government, which, by analogy, would be those who govern the school, namely, the principal and teaching and nonteaching staff. Underlying this approach are assumptions - assumptions that may well be invalid - that something is wrong 'with each and every school, that the fault lies with the school and that parents somehow possess a degree of insight, knowledge and wisdom about the pro- fession of education that well trained and highly experienced teach- ers and principals lack. ' Parents do, indeed, know their own children best, and it is vital that they share their perspectives with their children's teachers - just as it is vital for teachers to share their observations about our chil- dren with us. But the fact is, teachers are better equipped than par- ents to objectively evaluate and then satisfy the classroom needs of our children. Some parents still need to be made more aware, not so much of their right to be 'involved in.their chi'l'dren's education, but of their responsibility to be involved and of how to meet that responsibility. And some principals still need tobe taught how to work effectively with parents and to be more responsive to their needs and concerns. This is the only foundation upon whieh to build a mutually benefi- cial relationship between parents and schools. And once thisfounda. doh is established; organizations„ whether they be Balled home end, school associations, parent/teacher associations or school councils, will"multiply and flourish - with'out'the spectre of government inter- vention. • Ed Shiller is president of the Seneca Hill Elementary School ParenrlTeacher Association. er Z CL. O Memberof: OCNA CCNA The W Ing ham A dv ince-Times' is a member of a family of community newspapers pro- viding news, advertising and information leadership. Letters to the Editor All letters to the editor must bear the writer's name, telt phone num- ber and address. The Advance -Times wel- comes letters. We re- serve the right to edit, but will endeavor to preserve the author's intent. Deadline for letters is Monday before 10:00 a.m.. Some exceptions may apply. Fax: (519) 357-2900 or mail to: P.O. Box 390, Wingham, Ontario, NOG 2W0 MAY 1948 On Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m., the unveiling and dedication ser- vice of Howick Township War Memorial Plaque was held in the park in Fordwich. It honors the Howick boys who gave their lives in the Second World War. After reading the names", the Last Post was sounded. Jack King, service manager at Huron Motors, Wingham, is at- tending service managers' course at the Ford Motor Co. in Windsor this week. Craig Armstrong, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Arrnstrong, who J has just completed an arts course at the University of Toronto, left t on Friday for New York, where he has accepted a position in the office of the Canadian Press. Wroxeter children taking part M in the children's studio party on in Saturday morning were: Shirley F McMichael and Evelyn Anger, pi- c ano duet; Billy Gibson and Mari- Ju lyn MacLean, a vocal duet and R Ronny Higgins, a solo. MAY 1960 of Among those attending the V -E T Day banquet at • the Wingham h branch of the Royal Canadian Le- sc gion were John Hanna, MLA for ty Huron -Bruce: George Brooks, Wingham Legion president; Rev. A. W. Downer of Dufferin- CI Simcoe, former "'Speaker of the Ch House and Wingham Mayor R. E. me McKinney. dis Hector Hamilton has received Ch word that he has been appointed the postmaster at Gorrie. This, posi- tion was held by Miss Myrtle ton Short, who died recently. and Turnberry Township has ac- tho cepted the tender of Lillow's Gar- a age. Bluevale, for a half -ton truck I at a purchase price of $1,840. , Win Danny Lee of Toronto arrived char in Wingham last Tuesday to take ore up duties as chef at Lee's Restau- rant. He is an expert on Chinese tete with Margaret Stapleton dishes, which the local restaurant will feature shortly. Fred Carbert of Wingham has been engaged by the Riverside Parks Development Board as parks supervisor. MAY 1971 A rare beaver sealer jar sold for $415 at a recent auction sale at Estate Marketing Services in Wingham. The jar was dark am- ber in color and has the beaver motif facing to the left. Graduating last week from the Canadian Girls in Training were Patti Kechnie, Janice MacTavish, oan Currie and Jeanette Riley. New lacrosse sticks arrived at he arena last week, just in time for the proposed lacrosse season. The Rev. Charles Forrest, fa - her of Marc Forrest of the F. E. adill Secondary School teach - g staff. has accepted a call from ordwich United Church and will ommence his duties there on ly 1, succeeding the retiring ev. William C. Parrott. Monty Templeman, 20 -year - d son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred empleman, formerly of Wing - am, has been awarded a hockey holarship from Cornell Univesi- in Ithica, N.Y. MAY 1981 Pastor Ross Smith 'and Eric eave of the Wingham Baptist urch attended the first monthly eting of Turnbeny council to cuss a proposal to build a urch school on the B-line of township. • Gord Kinahan, Tom Reming- Mark Frayne, Don Higgins Doug Gamble were among se receiving Ironmen season wards at the year-end banquet. f all goes according to plan, gham will have a fully- tered Knights of Columbus anization by the fall. The Belgrave Women's Insti- marked its 70th anniversary. Theline•ne adult entertainment nt it's difficult for the, as a journalist to endorse any kind of censorship whatsoever. A good part of my job revolves around providing written informa- tion on what can often be potentially private matters. In fact, I'm sure there are many politicians at all ley - 'els of government who would prefer to see the back of me rather than the front. However, there are times when that position of freedom of expres- sion is challenged by others in friendly debate: Incidents such as the epublication.han in the Paul Bernardo trial questIoj my 'personal beliefs • on, out. collect* right to know. I have a curiosity like many others to know the intimate details of the case, and his estranged wife's, Karla Homol- The Outer Edge matters of the erotic side of life. ' Frequently, the issue of exploita- tion surfaces. In itself, that is a com- pletely separate issue. The jury is still out on who is exploiting and who is exploited. Granted, the' material Women To - Cameron J. WOOD day is targeting is not of a consentu- al etween adults; e But then, in other aspects of socie- feature extreme situations he ofcomicbbnds ty, we can find healthy debates on age, sado-masochism and rape. Not ' the issue of censorship and restricted. exactly the Playboy guide to ro- access to both printed and video ma- mance. terials. . gBut, the question remains in my Such is the most recent case at mind: Where do we stop with rea- Wingham Town Council and corre- sonable restriction and start:. wig.' spondence frck& the t'Itlreita County censorship? ",y •1. I, organization Women Today. ,:;= . , I fear. those who want to deter - In a letter sent to our local munici- mine -what I, as *a consenting adult, pal government, Women Today are have access to and not. This is not seeking action against a local variety just in terms of adult-oriented mate- ka, plea bargain. I too want to see store to prohibit the sale of, or relo- rials like graphic comic hooks, but the judicial process be as open as - cate, a comic book containing graph- also other printed material - like possible. is violence against women and nudi- Catcher in the Rye, John Lennon al - But, unlike outright censorship, ty. To emphasize their point, the. bum covers or Shakespeare's The that particular case has only a tempo- organization submitted photocopies Merchant of Vi. rary ban. In due time the information of some of the artwork contained in You see, despiteencesome of our con - on what went on in Port Dalhousie the publication, whicp they state is cerns regarding material we deem desire will b•e fulfilled. will become public and all morbid easily accessible to youth. offensive, we must always bear in Previously I have found myself on mind that in deeming thermatetial as I can accept the ban simply be- the shaky ground of supporting so- such, we are also forcing our views ,cause I feel it more important for called adult-oriented content publi- on others. That in itself is a form of our court system - as flawed as we cations. Primarily because few"oth- censorship - dictating our individual may think it is - to gain a conviction ers dare take a public stand on such morality upon others. In a distanced on Bernardo if he is truly guilty. In matters. addition, having spent close to sixWhy? comparison, kind of like the oppres- years on court coverage, I can alsosion that our brave young men bat - point out that bans are not uncom- a Most adult entertainment remains tled 50 years ago. mon. out are frequently y used; and taboo subject. We can humour our- i am not the kind of individual selves with rambling columns on who will subscribe to graphic comic a permanent ban is built into the male strippers in Wingham, or Women Today would like to see an Young Offenders Act. The only ex- naughty home pages on the Internet, end of. However, in all good con- ception is that few cases gain the bet it seems as a society, we are un- science, nor am I the kind of individ- kind of media attention that the Ber- willieg to actually come out of the ual who will say just how access to nardo trial has. bedroom and " discuss with reason, that material should be granted. Rae faces diffjit t TORONTO -. Premier Bob Rae is trying to win an election on the claim that Prime Minister Jean Chre- tien is treating Ontario unfairly, but it is doubtful that he can make a fed- eral case out of it. The New Democrat premier has been telling voters their main con- cern should be that the Liberal feder- al government is reducing funds to provinces and threatening services like medicare, post -secondary educa- tion and welfare; and reducing funds to Ontario more than to other prov- inces. Ontario will lose $1.4 billion in 1996-97 and $2 billion in the follow- ing year. Rae says the federal Liber- als are "picking on Ontario - there is no way in the world we should be getting less than other provinces." The premier claims the "real stake in this election is who is best able to defend medicare and other programs on behalf of the people of Ontario?" "Who is best able to 'defend your children's bridge to a better future and stand up for Ontario's interests when it comes to fair treatment?" when they were in government up to 1993 showed no sympathy for and started the trend to getting tough with Ontario. Rae recalls former Tory prime minister Brian Mulroney calling so- cial programs "a sacred trust" and then reducing funds and weakening, them. Rae is appealing to voters for a "Strong mandate from the election to deal with Ottawa." The two provincial opposition par- ties naturally are dismissing this as trying to distract attention from his own party's financial record. Rae argues the NDP is best quali- Rae's claim that the federal Liber- fied because the' Ontario Progressive ale are shortchanging Ontario has Conservatives for a long time have some warrants, as even independent seen cuts as their overriding priority financial agencies have noted, el- and the Ontario Liberals recently though the argument against is that jumped on the bandwagon. Ontarians are wealthy enough to sus - Ontario Liberal leader Lyn McLe- tain them. od also is a "mere echo" and unlike- Blit Rae will have difficulty con- ly to quarrel with her federal party, vincing voters this is not just an - Rae says, and the federal Tries other technical argument between goyernments because whichever lev- el" raises or spends money, it all comes in the end from the pockets of taxpayers. Polls also show most Ontario resi- dents thoroughly support the federal Liberal's cost cutting so that it is dif- ficult to whip up a campaign against it. The real impact also will not be felt in reduced services or higher provincial. taxes to compensate until 1996, so relatively few people are worried now. This skirmish over cost-sharing also may seem pale to many com- pared to concerns over NDP policies including adding $10 billion a year to the province's debt. Some earlier Ontario governments tried without much luck to make ma- jor election issues of quarrels with federal governments of opposing po- litical stripes. Tory premier John Robarts in the 1960s protested against the federal Liberals' version of medicare, call- ing it "Machiavellian". Tory premier William Davis in the 1970s fumed against federal Lib- erals allowing oil prices to rise and Liberal premier David Peterson in the 1980s tried to fight an election against the Tories, plan for free trade. But the premiers never were able to rtiake these issues dominate, an election -- Orttatians usually have voted on matters closer to home. -h, 144