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Times Advocate, 1997-11-05, Page 35)11r4zwassr wallowssa-riarn- Infuriated over cancellation of meeting "Shame on you -Helen Johns. I . hope the teachers .in Huron County will never forget this." Dear Editor:' - The leaders of the teacher federations in. Huron County just found out that .Helen- Johns has can- - .celled a Long planned meeting to discuss education - issues. This meeting was set over two weeks ago. This infuriates me and I hope ,it infuriates every. other constituents in Huron County .that is reading or hearing of this cancellation - if she does not have Sime to meet with the•teachers during this most im- portant time - how is she representing tier 'constitu- ents, parents and children in this county. I wish Hel- . en Johns were as interested in her riding as she is in - Ontario Hydro hearings. We (coalition leaders) asked for a meeting more than two weeks ago - long before' the protest even started to talk over the issues with Helen Johns - this meeting was set during the week she was supposed . to be in her office for constituency week -• but,was nowhere to be found. At the time it was the earliest she could. meet•with us. Now two days before,'in the middle of a major action in Huron County she does . not have 'the time to meet with the stakeholders in -the protest action. SHAME ON' YOU -HELEN JOHNS - I HOPE THE TEACHERS- IN HURON COUNTY WILL. -. NEVER FORGET THIS!!! : John Clarke - OSSTF District 45 • Governments created decline in curriculum No one. doubts the need to economize.:.. Dear Editor; As. a formerteacher, I, am deeply troubled by the Harris government'sfiandling of education reform.. • What troubles me most is that it is -.being carried out • through a consistent strategy of misinformation and outright lies. -- - The government wants us to think that teachers , are responsible for an evident decline in standards, '• In fact the present and former governments created the decline by forcing through poorly thought-out changes in 4urriculum. testing and student stream- • ing: ' The government blames teachers for "negotiating larger class sizes". in fact the government forced boards to raise taxes, to lay off teachers, and to permit larger class sizes in mainstream courses in order to preserve small classes in art, music, etc. , 'Mike Harris tried to get the public to believe that. teachers are opposing curriculum change, standardize testing, and new: report cards. In fact, teachers support these changes; they oppose Bill 160, which has noth- ing to do with curriculum, testing, or report cards No one' doubts the need to economize. But the gov- -ernment is trying to make us believe that Bill. 160 is an, effort to improve the quality of education, which is palpably false. We should all distrust legislation that the- govern- ment feels compelled to -lie about. - Yours truly Douglas Frame Where's the common sense? "...something is very'wrong with what the government is doing:" ,Dear Editor: Th?s is a copy of a fetter: sent, to Mr. M. Beaubien. ' "MLA.. L.antbton Mr. Beaubien:' As a member of the governing party in Ontario, is is'obv'ous that you must share responsibility for the • lamentable situation which now exists in Ontario , education. I think it is primarily the fault of the gov- ernment that our schools are closed. The government made not one conciliatory gesture in the direction of averting the teachers' withdrawal -of services. Bill • . 160 clearly is causing so much concern that the gov ernment must withdraw it, • The argument that teachers are pawns in the hands of belligerent union leaders is without foundation. Teachers are reluctant unionists` and are even more •relpctant strikers. it Must. be obvious that if.virtually . all teachers in the province's schools feel strongly enough to strike. that something is very wrong with what the government is doing. • The province has had Conservative governments • from George Drew's through. Leslie Frosts's and , Johns-Robart's-to-.Bill-Davis=governments- that_built_ this province's very fine school system. Why does the present Conservative government act as if it - • wishes to destroy the school system? I taught for 39 years, 28 of them as a secondary -school principal. Improvementsin education are always possible but neither the creation of,even larger hoards nor the inept measures in Bill 160 will contribute one iota to .'the betterment of elementary -or secondary education. Surely there is some common sense left over from the•'revolution'. Abandon the present obdurate and intransigent position. Withdraw Bill 160 and engage all parties = teachers, administration, ministry, boards, and parents, even students, in developing a thoughtful replacement for what is' not acceptable to anybody. •• Thank you. , J. Wooden, Grand Bend What does Bill 160 mean to education? "We will pay more in the end." 'Dear Editor:, . As day five dithe teachers' strike begins and I ' watch my two children spend another day at home. instead of at school, where they should be; where ,they want to be; 1 question what is it that has driven 126.0(X) teachers from our children's classrooms. As a trustee. former chair of the LCBE and as a father, I feel I must express my opposition to Bill 160. This legislation confers arbitrary and regulatory, powers to the minister and to the cabinet to direct • and control of education funding. curriculum, and staffing in this province. Once this bill becomes law. every major decision will be made by Cabinet •,through regulation. behind closed doors, without consultation. That Means there will he no input from parents, trustees. teachers or other community mem- bers. Not even the courts will be able to stop them. The Minister can: issue directives impacting on school board assets. property pr liability (including .seiturc'or sale) without cause and; dismiss any offi- cer. employee, or trustee who fails to carry out any order. direction or decision made by the Minister. Mike Harris laments the fact that during the past 20 years education costs have resulted in the local tax rates rising. however, he fails to mention that during this same time, the provincial contribution to education costs has decreased by 20 per cent. $600 million has been removed already and anoth- er $700 million is to come. which is just the figure they have promised to give back in tax'reduction. This is the government that is closing hospitals when it said it would not. Restructuring municipalities is downloading cost and responsibilities on to the local municipal tax bill. We will pay more in the end. Money is being made available to municipalities during the transition of .services, but no similar package exists for school boards. The Education improvement Commissiep recommended that any saving through restructuring be reinvested into the classroom. Short term cost during'transition is estimated between $300 to $500 million to harmonize the dozens of pay scales. bene- fit plans. and staffing formulae. As a trustee for the past six years, 1 have had the opportunity to listen to parents and ratepayers, develop policies and services to meet the' needs of our local community. Unfortunately, with the gov- ernment seizing control of the education system from democratically elected local school trustees. local school board members will not have input into the system. making them powerless figure heads. M.P.P.'s have received pensions, bonuses and allowed municipal leaders to set their own salary structures. but trustees salaries are now capped at $5,000. The average working person cant afford to take the time and absorb the cost of being a trustee. Two hours drive to the nearest meeting for both teachers and trustees will become the norm, now that boards will be so large. In the county the'ratio is one trustee to 48 municipal politicians. How can one serve an area this size? Education is an investment and not a cost. It costs $30 per day to educate a child versus $233 per day to keep'a young offender in custody. Ironically this same,government that cut funding for Junior Kindergarten add other educational programs that research Shows helps kids stay in school Longer is claiming that they will provide $40 per day for child care during the strike. As with most of the promises this government has made, there has been no thought as to how this will be accomplished. Does this $40/day mean that Mike Harris is now a proponent of subsidized day-care? Bill 160 suggests'that all boards will be funded equally. That is fine if you currently support a separate board, but the majority Of taxpaiers don't realize funding for their public boards will drop. ' There is the question of uncertified and unquali- fied people in the classroom. Wayne Gretzky is a great hockey player, but if he wanted to be a minor hockey coach he would still have to have taken a course to be certified - that is the rule. This government wants to control class sizes, but they have not stated what those sizes will be. Get it out on the table and start negotiating. Federations and boards have joint staffing committees which meet each year to assess the needs in each school ani arrive at a local solution for our system. If this bill passes, school boards and u-ustees are asked to manage the impossible. If we cannot invest in our local community schools, the shortfalls caused by government cuts will mean programs and services will be slashed and expectations will not be met. Parents will lose confidence in our public system. Government is setting up the school system for fail- ure and willblame it on boards, teachers and every- one else but themselves. This bill is not about improving education, it is about cutting even more dollars from our children's education system. Don't let this government disman- tle public education. Our future and greatest asset is our children. Victor Alderson, trustee. Lambton County Board of Education, Lambton Delegate to Ontario School Board Association Times-Advocate, November 5, 1997 Page 35 LE1TERS To THE Ei.flOR • Respect given to individua.ls "This is a- major reason why I take my place on a picket line" Dear Editor: In response to your recent article concerning teachers and their lack of professionalism.regarding picketing. As a teacher I can no,longer tolerate the govern • ment's campaign against public education. It ap- pears to be perfectly acceptable for them to extol half -truths -and outright lies concerning the quality of Ontario's Education System. It nonetheless is ac- cepted and reported by 'all media. The comparisons are accepted as legitimate and not fully researched by the press. How can a premier tell the public that • school boards are the cause of tax increases in edu- cation? They have cut back, they, set the mill rates higher each year, they produce the policy i.e. curric- ulum - yet they will not take responsibility, - This government's "Enabling legislation" is very similar to legislation passed in -Europe in the 1930's. This. is a major reason why I take my place on a picket line. i respect individuals who stand for fair- ness and democracy! I'm sorry you fail to under- stand. - - Yours truly,. CN Cook (Casey. N. Cook) Replacing a budget- deficit with a social deficit? The deficit is being used as a club by governments -to Dear Editor; scare voters..... This falls' Queens Park sitting promises the most ambitious and far-reaching agenda on record, and already confrontation Mounts. Will we stand vigi- lant enough -and care enough to stem the calloused hemorrhaging of our hard won social•safety net? So far, our anxieties have been met with even more .plans to downsize, deregulate and privatize, all in the name oHeftcitreduction yet 72 per cent of On- tario's -voters did not vote to restructure what Onta- rio does. Meanwhile Tory tax refunds (using $5 billion -of - new government borrowing), saved me $10 last • month on income tax. Regrettably Mr. Hams bor- rowed every dollar he. refunded. Regrettably, he still gives away that which he did not have. Regrettably - my children will be saddled with the compounding -interest on my rebate. Regrettably, half the value of all income tax rebates went to those -over $75,000 - income yearly. Present over simplification and fixation- with defi- cit reduction while totally ignoring the real problem. of total debt and scaling back of public services to - allow private market forces to fill 'any voids. is noth- ing short of near-sighted, regressive and cowardly. I • suggest our Ontario government is too eager to un- load its responsibilities fora civil; clean. happy and sustainable society. • - Unable to raise taxes without a huge outcry. our. senior governments are desperate, so they simply sidestep, to sell off government run assets and ser- Vices. What party will reassemble the pieces when • we finally realize collectively that governments sim- ply do some things best after all. i.e. health, educa- - tion, jails... Look around to. see what happens when the "free market" goes unchallenged and sharehold- ers demand profits above all; We are not all share- holders but we most certainly are all stakeholders • here in Ontario. • Relentless aggressive propaganda campaigns against publicly funded programs are misdirected and -increasingly mean-spirited: Admittedly civil - services neededtrimming i.e. health bureaucrats- -don't care for patients just.as educational bureau- crats don't teach students. If debt, reduction were. the clear focus wouldn't Mr: Hams ensure reductions start where waste is obvious. (55 per cent of educa- tion tax gets to the classrooms). The deficit is being used as a club by governments to scare voters, to validate giant cuts to social spend-: ing. The Canadian council on Policy Alternatives re_, search shows only 10 per cent of our current Cana- dian deficit was caused by growth in social - spending. Our real debt originates with hiked inter- est rates in the 80s, plus an unfair tax policy. Our social fabric is strained i.e. MPP pensions, _ teacher strike; medical waiting. lists; youth unem- ployment; civil service cuts. Hugecorporations and wealthy individuals meanwhilk pay much Tess tax while the working people pay more. Where are the statesmen'? Our -leaders are so pre-empted, with our economy they seem unable to address loftier policy matters to lift us out of this bleak pessimisur. Socie- ty will not tolerate this economic Darwinism much longer so -governments -must lead by creating and - distributing. wealth more evenly to rekindle hope -for families and communities. Patriotically,: David Hern For more Ietters,seepages5-6 Councillor candidates agree on key issues facing Exeter By Kate Monk - T -A Reporter EXETER- With a respectable turnout at the all - candidates meeting last Wednesday night. the. men contending for Exeter council discussed the record of past councils. amalgamation, dealing with down- loading of provincial services and their hopes for the future of Exeter. All candidates were present as well as the three. candidates for the trustee of the amalgamated Hu- ron -Perth school board. The story on the school board candidates appears elsewhere in the TA. Two council posts have been filled by acclama- tion with Roy Triebner in the reeve's chair and Dave *Orlin as deputy -reeve. Former Exeter mayor Bruce Shaw is challenging incumbent mayor Ben Hoogenboom for the town's top job. Both men bring several years experience to - local politics to the competition. In recent issues of the Times Advocate, they presented their views on issues of interest to Exeter residents in response to questions from TA readers and a citizen's group. Exeter residents still had a few new questions up their sleeves last Wednesday night for Shaw and Hoogenboom. On the issue of providing a new medical center and renovating the library, both candidates were un- willing to promise municipal funding. . Shaw said because the economy is doing better, disposable income has increased and private money could be used for library renovation. According to Shaw, a new medical.center should come before the library but was adamant taxpayers' dollars would not be spent on either project. He has taken a "if you build it they will come" stance and says the medical center must be built to attract new phy- sicians to replace Exeter's retiring doctors. Hoogenboom thinks there is a will in the com- munity to create a "Friends of the Library" group to raise the necessary funds. With respect to a medical center, he said the hospital board would have a large role to play and does not believe the center should be built until new doctors have been attracted. Neither candidate would identify the services the town will eliminate to save money. Hoogenboom said ratepayers still want to maintain services and he would seek public input. Shaw agreed people don't want to give up services but questioned whether they are willing to pay. He suggested de- laying or modifying public works projects as a method of saving money. When asked to explain the costs and rational for firing Exeter's police chief, Hoogenboom said al- though he was on council at the time, the decision was made without council's knowledge. Shaw was a member of the' police services board and said he was involved in the termination of the chief but was given legal advice not to tell council. Shaw went into a lengthy description of the -events that preceeded and followed the termination: New blood in councillor positions • With only one incumbent councillor (Robert •Drummond) running for re-election, council will have a shot of new ideas with at least three new councillors. Pete Armstrong, Joe Hogan, Tom Oke, George Robertson and Dan Traquair are ready to serve the town. The background, vision. as well as • views on amalgamation, restructuring and down- loading of each' candidate were included in an Oc- • tober 23 article in the TA. On the whole. the candidates agreed in their re- -sponses to questions. Outgoing councillor Thom Hughes asked the can- didates about in -camera sessions and the delay in the release of the Oweson report ons the internal re- structuring of the town. • - The candidates agreed meetings should be held in the open as much as possible but realized personnel and property matters must be discussed behind closed doors. Drummond, Hogan and Oke said rat- , epayersshould be alert and show more interest in council. All candidates were opposed to introducing video lottery terniinals in Exeter but Armstrong, Rob- ertson and Traquair saidthey would go to the public for input before they would make a decision. The candidates were asked if they as a council would set policy and let the chief administrative of- ficer look after the administration of the town. No one answered the question directly but all agreed they would rely on the administrator for his ex- pertise and advice. For the last question of the night, the candidates. were asked for their opinions on annexation. Oke was the candidate chosen to answer first and said Exeter does have to grow, but was at a loss for words to indicate his opinion. Hogan said there is still room within Exeter for new houses. He said he would support annexation when the need arises but not before because of the costs. He added amalgamation may eliminate the is- sue. Robertson said he was not opposed to amalgama- tion and anticipated it occurring if Exeter "wanted or needed to grow." Drummond said annexation often causes hard feelings with the annexed township because it loses its tax base. "Amalgamation would solve the problem." he said. Traquair said he did not see anything wrong with annexation. Armstrong also thought there was space within Exeter for residences but Exeter would have to look at options for industrial growth. The all -candidates meeting will be broadcast on the community cable channel on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.