The Huron Expositor, 1997-10-01, Page 5`More letters on page 16
--. -�;41.14,- --
Little in Bill 160 that will improve education
Dear Editor. library science and technical
As a teacher in Ontario I subjects. It's one thing to
feel compelled to try to set know everything about com-
the record straight about this puters; it's a very different
matter when it comes down
government's .. teacherlegis- to "teaching" what you know
lation,"
' Biliil 160, which was to a class of 35 or more sw-
presented in the Legislature
on Monday, ,September 22. dents when you have access
Ironically, Bill 160 has been to 15 machines.
"The Education Speaking of class size, the
names • ministry presented figures a
Quality Improvement Act.' week ago that said the aver -
There is little in Hill 160 that age class in Ontario schools
as anything to do with has 22 students. Ask your
roving public education sons and daughters how
1koriiop
. this province. Indeed, MI many students are in their
Snobelen and this govet'ti classes. I doubt very much
t arc conducting a caw Q that you will hear a number
even close to 22. The minis-
ter says that is because local
collective bargaining has cre-
ated the huge classes we see
today. No, Mr. Snobelen!
Your government has done
this with your cut-backs to
education.
One of the major issues for
secondary school teachers,
whom I represent, is the loss
of "preparation time." This
does not mean, simply, that
we lose most of the time we
presently receive during the
day to prepare lessons, mark,
phone or meet with parents,
pblg#tdjaiestroy the funda-
mental foundations of public
education in Ontario.
The only focus of this gov-
ernment is to take anot ler
billion dollars from the edu-
cation budget; this after tak-
ing out nearly one billion
dollars already. How can this
possibly improve education?
Taking this amount of money
from the system means the
loss of eight to ten thousand
teaching jobs. Bill 160 will
allow non -teachers in our
schools "teaching" physical
education, computer-related
courses, guidance programs.
meet individually with stu-
dents, photocopy (because
many of us do not have text-
books), conference with other
teachers, etc. It means greatly
increasing the daily workload
of teachers by giving us
another class to teach, anoth-
er lesson to prepare, and
another class -set of marking
to do. Snobelen is not cutting
"prep time" in* order to
increase the time teachers
spend with students: He is
doing it because this change,
alone, will mean the loss of
eight to ten thousand teachers
in the system.
The addition of an extra
class (and all that goes with
it) and the loss of "prep time"
will mean that many of us
will have neither the time nor
the energy to do all the
coaching and supervising of
club activities that we
presently do voluntarily.
However, Bill 160 makes a
provision for this scenario,
too. It will make coaching, of
all kinds, mandatory.
Every night on the news I
hear Mr. Snobelen offering to
listen, if the leaders of the
teachers' federations would
just meet with him. The reali-
ty is that our leaders have
met and have talked over and
over again; the problem is
that no one in this govern-
ment is willing to listen!
They want their billion dol-
lar and they are going to get
it from education. If anything
else were true, why will the
minister not guarantee that he
will reinvest this money in
the system and truly improve
the quality of education in
Ontario?
No teacher in Ontario wants
to strike. Bill 160 is 262
pages of deplorable legisla-
tion that reduces students and
teachers to pawns who are at
the mercy and whims of the
Minister of Education. This
is not a fight for higher
salaries or better benefits. It
is a battle to save the very
heart and soul of public edu-
cation, the teaching profes-
sion, and the future of almost
every child in Ontario. In that
sense, it is everyone's fight!
Mary Ann Cruickshank
President, District 45
Ontario Secondary School
Teachers' Federation
How will Harris deliver promise of tax relief?
CONTINUED from page 4
downloaded services. the true
financial picture cannot be
drawn until municipal amal-
gamations are complete. One
government source indicates
that the province envisions
50 "taxation delivery agents"
(read municipalities) in
Ontario., The remaking of
local government, with
changed, and yet unclear
responsibilities, should ring
warning bells. The historical
partnership between the
province and local govern-
ments is dissolving.
In the case of school
boards, the process is further
along the road than with the
municipalities, though nbt yet
complete. When you go to
the polls for the municipal'
Creating financial
security for teachers
CONTINUED from page 4
the most damaging of all is
the social and economic cost
of this special treatment. As
the owner of a Canadian cor-
poration I can tell you that
nothing does more to crush
the entrepreneurial spirit than
knowing that you can almost
forget reaching the level of
financial security that you are
expected to create for public
employees. These days I try
to figure out where I can
invest my time and money
outside Ontario where at least
the playing field is level. I'm
getting tired of running
uphill.
Thank you for your atten-
tion. And when the teachers
walk, remember we cannot
balk. We may never get a bet-
ter chance to fix this mess.
Richard Clarke,
R.R. 2, Goderich
election in November, as of
today, you will be electing
school board trustees with no
mandate to represent you, no
taxation powers, and no pre-
scribed authority from the
province. An 'elected' repre-
sentation implies that there is
authority to represent the
'electorate'. From my point
of view, it would have been
more honest if the province
appointed the members to the
new school boards. I see no
perceptible difference from
any other provincial board,
why pretend otherwise.
Every household in .Ontario
received the paper "Putting
Children First". Left unsaid
is that none of these changes,
which the provincial govern-
ment has always had the leg-
islated authority to do,
required of your right to local
determination on the use of
property tax.,
Premier Hams continues to
tout his promise of tax -relief
and, in particular, property
tax relief for education. The
big question, as yet unan-
swered is - how? So far his
track record is far from reas-
suring. Remember' his initial
assurance that he would
remove education from the
property tax entirely? This
was the government's initial
position to legitimize the
amalgamation of school
boards, reduce local repre-
sentation, and remove taxa-
tion powers (for' public
schools). It didn't happen.
Instead of removing educa-
tion from the property tax
entirely, the government
changed its tune but contin-
ues to reiterate a promise of
property tax relief with the
province supposedly funding
half the cost of education in
the province - at a yet -
unspecified point -in -time.
Bait and switch are the stock
in trade of the flimflam man.
In Huron County, the
province pays about half the
cost of educating Huron
County students through
grants. Given that the
province pays half the local
share of education in Huron
County, could that mean that
the education portion of your
property tax bill could remain
the same? Could Huron
County's 'half' be more than
what you currently pay with
the proposed harmonization
of property taxes across
Ontario? I won't be sur-
prised, will you? More dam-
aging to our schools and stu-
dents is the prospect that this
government will fulfill its
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With
Presented by
Bereaved Parents of Stratford and Area
Gro
Tickets available at
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Festival Market Place
Stratford
Tickets available at
Catherine Wright pesigns
74 Wellington Street
Stratford
On this, his second visit to Stratford, Dr. Grollmao invites you to come and give your written
questions for him to answer, after addressing the subject of Loss and Bereavement.
Please bring your questions with you.
Doctor Earl Grollman is a world renowned author and speaker, whose expertise in the field of
grief and bereavement has inspired both the bereaved and grief professionals all over the world.
He has over half a million books in print.
Date: • Thursday, October 16th, 1997 Time: 8:00. 10:00 p.m.
Location: The Knights of Columbus Contmunity Hall,
151 Lorne Avenue East, Stratford Tickets: S15.00
Please fill out your request below, and mail with enclosed cheque/MO to:
Bereaved Parents of Stratford and Area,
s P.O. Box 23033,Stratford, Ontario, N5A-7V8.
Yes,•please send me tickets, at $15.00 each.
A cheque/Money Order is enclosed in the amount of $
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r rr1. 1 • e•I 1' Ab.� i It
This advertisement is sponsored by: Box and Smith Funeral Chapel, Seaforth,
and Whitney-Ribey Puneral Home, Seaforth _
promise of removing anotehr
billion dollars from education
in order to make the local
cost more palatable. Leaving
the local portion of education
taxes in Huron County the
same will not be technically
dishonest, but will you not
feel deceived?
I urge you to elect good
people to represent you and
support efforts to counter
movements that will ulti-
mately lead to your disen-
franchisement. If you care
about democracy, don't allow
your municipality to go the
way of your school board.
And, while you are thinking
about it, phone and thank 'the
folks who have struggled, on
your behalf, to manage the
affairs of your community for
the past three years. You may
not have always agreed with
their decisions but were you
there to help with construc-
tive criticism when they
needed community feedback?
Your local government
belongs to you. Where do
you stand on its demise?
Responsible government
does not thrive in a vacuum.
Joan Van den Broeck
R.R. 4, Goderich
Tl* M ON I'OOITOO. Oobise,1 1 NT -a
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