The Lucknow Sentinel, 1997-02-26, Page 5Johns on
Dear editor:
The government has listened to the
, concerns of rural Ontario and has acted
by introducing Bill 104. As many parents
are aware, there have been inequities in
the funding formula since it a ?vas
designed', and these inequities' have been
very harsh when it comes to funding edu-
'cation in' the County of Huron.
P,resently,, the Huron Perth Separate
School Board spends approximately
$4900 per student. This is made up of
approximately $7.6 million raised
through property tax and u $18.5million-
grant from the province:,
" The Huron Board of Education spends
$5500 per student, approximately; $2.5
miilion through ,property tax levy and a
$27.5 million grant from the province' and
• therefore from income tax collected from
the taxpayers of Ontario,
The situation is quite different in' the
Show your
support
•from page 4
Tf'you would like to •
-offer your Support, letters
cane. be sent to Helen
• Johns, .MPP 'Huron, $arb
Fisher,. MPP Bruce, John ,
Snobelen, Minister, of
Education and Training
and Mike Harris, Preemier.
of Ontario.
Nancy Aitchison,
' Secretary `.
:FE. Madill S.S..
CUPE 1428.
ha iiks
frem a,cti n
•
committee
Dear. editor: •
On- behalf of the
Wingham:. Action
Comrini.ttee I • want to
express sincere thanks to
the i:ucknow. Legion and
Kinsmen .Club- for cover-
ing the ,cost of `• the. • '
Community Centre for our
- information session on.
Jan. 3Q:..
Public information uses
sions to explain: what. the
hospital`..:- restructuring
options .will mean to all of
us- is a very high`priority:
forour committee
We have tried .to -.keep
our expenses to a. mini-
mum so; 'we wivould not, •
need to : solicit 'funds from
the' public. Your .contribu-
tion certainly.helped our
cause.
We appreciate' .all the
support we .have received 0
from the Hillcrest Public
School', . .Lucknow ,
''Kinsmen, Luckno;w.
Legion, The L' ucknow'
Sentinel and all the people
that' came out to our ses-
sions, .wrote - letters or
made phone calls. ,
Access to quality health. '
care, for'the people of
Wingham; and surrounding ;
communities is our .goal
and:we will "et►ntinue" to.
achieve':' our -motto'.
Winghain, and District
Hospital Ours to Keep!
'Verna Chair
rn a hair
• Wingham Action
'Committee.
•
Luteknow Sentinel, Wednesday, February 20, 1997 nage 5
at are they marching about?
major. cities. In: Toronto, in the public sys-
tem approximately $9000 is spent for
each student's education every year, All
of these funds are raised, by property tax
levy.
An inequity in per pupil funding has
led many people to be concerned' about a
two tiered education system.
As subsequent governments have•
reduced grant funding to Boards gf
Education, Huron Boards have been sub
stantiall' affected as -.a result of the grants
they receive, The Toronto Board on the
other hand, has received' no reduction in
its funding because. it receives no grants
from the' provincial governments.
Therefore, it is important to note that..
Torontoo schools have faced no reduction
in funding whatsoever, Many have talked
about the equitableness of this situation, .
believe that this system nolonger works,
and: is not equitable to the people of:
Huron, and therefore it must" be changed.
We have, done this in Bill 104..
Subsequent governments have considered
change but to say the least, it is contro-
versial, especially in Toronto.
As a result of Bill 104, funding for stu-
dents will beon a per pupil basis. This
will ensure that all students in the
province have the same dollars being'
spent on their education regardless of
where they live; Depending on the results
of the funding formula discussions, there
is a possibility that more dollars will -be
-spent on the students of Huron.: 0
The same bill amalgamates school
boards across the province. I believe that
this will 'reduce administrative costs
across the :province and put dollars into
the classroom. A Huron Perth Board
presently. represents the separate schools
in Huron and -it will not'be changed. The
publicschool board will becomea
merged Huron Perth. Board. Will this ,pro-
;duce savings? Presently we have two
directors, two business managers, etc.
and I believe we cannot help but reduce
.,administrative costs. : • '
One of the last issues outlined in Bill
104 is the establishment of the Education
Improvement Commission. This commis-
sion was
ommis-sionwas set up to ensure thatthe transi-:
tion occurs smoothly and students' .con-
cerns are met and that the taxpayers inter-
ests
are. protected. A trustee in the Huron
Board has stated- .that he welcomes the
Commission so that the interests of the
,-public are protected and'there'is no.ques-
tion as to the fairness of the amalgama.
tion.
Asthe teachers unions gear up this
week by picketing .MPPsoffices and tak-
ing the debate into the classroom; I ask
parents, teachers and students to consider;
•turn to page 6
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