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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesd ay N o ve m b er 21, 2001 EDITORIALS AND LETTERS THE O A K V IL L EB E A V ER 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher NORMAN ALEXANDER Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director TERI CASAS Office Manager MARK DILLS Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, AJIiston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News. Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News. City Parent. Collingwood/Wasaga Connection. East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guaijlian, Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. Harriston Review. Huronia Business Times. Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week, Markham Ecnomist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week. Owen Sound Tribune. Palmerston Observer. Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. StouffvilleAJxbridge Tribune. Forever Young, City of York Guardian THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association a ° | i T tii^ H A . Canadian Community Newspapers Association Preparing |br Tomorrow's Hrtlth Carr Yym ca U nited Way of Oakville q g g t J irtg e B e l Fund LCOM E^fcr A GON L T D PC* V BLCJNESSttTHE.4KTS f e .. s a w mmm SK Suburban Newspapers of America TV AUCTION k J/Wimi 0 © Orn -- JTbxml Q okville (gShoaSs For business excellence mmd O N T A f in d R I O | oakville galleries | P<dSi& w as Retirement gratuities strangling education Teacher retirement gratuities are going to bankrupt the public education system. Tonight, the Halton District School Board is receiving a report recommending it pull $2.2 million from its reserves to cov ering a deficit in the 2000-01 operating budget. Was the board financially irresponsible? Nope. The main culprit in this case is the amount o f money paid out by the board to teachers in retirement gratuities. Last year, 150 Halton District School Board teachers retired and collected $6 million in retirement gratuities. That was about $2.9 million more than anticipated . For those not familiar with retirement gratuities, it is a system which has been abandoned by about every business and public agency, except for school boards. Long ago, other businesses and agen cies realized the system, which rewards people for not getting sick, was too expen sive to support in the face of mass retire ments. In the teacher' case, they are permitted 20 sick days over the 10 m onths o f school.Those that are unused are banked and carried over to the next school year. The system ends up providing a fat pay out to teachers upon retirement for doing what they are paid to do -- go to work. Are we being unfair to teachers? Hardly. Retiring teachers have one of the most attractive pension plans going -- thanks largely to the provincial govern ment which is contributing to the fund. Proof of this is the record numbers of teachers opting for early retirement. Yes, their jobs are demanding and more pressure is being put upon them. But part of that can also be blamed upon the retire ment gratuity system. The Halton District School Board is not the only one hit with large retirement gra tuity payouts. It is anticipated that 46,000 teachers will retire across the province over the next five years. At an average of $30,000 in retirement gratuities for each te ac h er, that works out to $1.38 billion. That's a lot of money to be rewarding teachers for going to work. No matter how you justify it, that's $1.38 billion that will be going out o f the education system. So the next time you're wondering where your education tax dollars are going, they're going out the door with retir ing teachers. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, THE OAKVILLE BEAVER 467 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE, ONT. L6K 3S4 OTTER III1 THE WEE! Teacher critical of Province's competency testing Ontario Ministry o f Education spokesper son David Ross is quoted as saying: " The p ar ents have a right to know som eone is able and competent. We want to ensure their skills are up-to-date." I have never even considered the fact that someone might regard me as incompetent. How can I be? I teach grade 4 and I have learned so m uch in this grade. I know am azing facts about the M edieval period. I can explain the formation o f igneous, m etam orphic and sedimentary rocks. The grandeur o f Canada has never been more real as I learn and teach about the physical and political divisions o f this country. This is but a fraction o f w hat I have learned in grade four. Each year I get better as I continue my search for interesting facts, inspiring pictures, colourful stories, grade level books, art and music ideas to enhance my lessons. I have spent sum m ers videotaping or photographing educational finds, reading children's books and science books, or searching through old mines looking for interesting rock specimens. Before I taught grade 4 I would never have struck up a conversation with a geologist hop ing to discover what elements are present in a certain rock. I know I need to learn as m uch as I can. I know that the more interested I am in the things that I teach the more inspired my class will be. Did you know that talc is produced in M adoc, O ntario? M y class and I just discov ered this tidbit on the net this past week. A solid know ledge base is ju st a small part o f learning to be a teacher. There are acquired skills that cannot be gained from taking anoth er course. It involves knowing about the phys ical and social needs o f the child. I have learned which jokes and facial expressions make them laugh. I know when to keep them running and when to stop and read them a story or take out my guitar and sing. I seem to be able to sense w hen they have to talk and when its a good time to show a film. Sometimes they need a good problem to solve. Sometimes they need to discover and create and build. Since teaching is an on going learning experience, through the years I have learned from my mistakes as well. Sometimes my developed sixth sense says that a child needs more space when in fact the child needs more affirmation. O nce I scoffed at using stickers to modify a grade 4 child's uncooperative behaviour until I saw its positive power. The child willed him self to focus on the com pletion o f in-school assignments for his rew ard - a sticker. W ho could have know n? Teaching m eans a w illing ness to keep trying for the sake o f the child. I learn from the people I work with. The good things I see happening in other class rooms become my own happenings. O ther col leagues solutions or ideas becom e my own. Sometimes we learn together about what does n't work. I'v e spent about 16 years learning on the job and I am good at it. I've spent time over these 16 years taking courses in art. special education, literature, drama, dance, com puters, reading, writing, lit erature, safety, first aid, allergies and EPI pens, management, assessment, portfolios, grade 3 testing - to name only a very few. Now after all this, when my self-esteem deserves to soar, the Ontario governm ent tells me I need to take 14 courses to recertify by D ecem ber 31,2006. W hy? W hat do I lack? W hat have I done to earn such mistrust? Despite all my learning I am being made to feel like a failure. W hat a shock to an exciting, challenging, rew arding profession that dem ands consistent learning and relearning simply by virtue o f what it is - education. I learned in my early teaching years how important it is to w ork on a child's strengths. Self-esteem is the key to learning. A healthy self image is w hat makes good teachers, too. So right now, I pause and I see all the smil ing eager faces in my class. I reflect on the thank you notes written to me over the years from supportive and grateful parents. I cling to the mem ories o f hugs and tears shared by staff, students and parents. I see the miracle o f growth in children as they m ove through the grades, for some accom plishing the impossible, for others exceeding the expectations. I teach. I am an excellent teacher. And I am N O T unique. Four moves better than five for French students Re: `French Immersion students could play musical schools'- Oakville Beaver, Wed. Nov. 14, 2001. W hat an excellent headline and a sad reality. I would like to thank you for publishing Kim A m ott's article about the plight o f the French Immersion students in west Oakville. Playing `musical schools' five times by grade 9 cannot be educationally or em otionally sound for any child. As a parent who presented to the Halton District S diool Board and requested an am endment to the abovementioned decision, I would like to clarify two points. 1. A t no tim e did any parent from the French Immersion com munity request that the Board make an am endm ent to remove the english program children from Gladys Speers to make room for our Immersion grade 7 & 8 children. The quote in your article from our south west trustee. Drew CuiTah, implies that we did. I am afraid that Mr. Currah is mistaken. I completely under stand that the parents o f the English program children do not w ant this to happened and we are not requesting this. Gladys Speers has room for all our children. 2. Mr. Currah is quoted as saying that "there is no real solution to this thing" . There may be no perfect solution, but there are certainly better solutions than the current decision. O ur request, to am end the decision so that the French Immersion grade 7 & 8 children attend Gladys Speers instead o f being moved to Eastview, is one such solution. U nder the current plan. Eastview will be over whelm ed by an influx o f all the current Queen Elizabeth Park grade 7 & 8 English and French Immersion stu dents. The num ber o f these intermediate students will reach 375. Eastview has the facilities (larger gym, lock ers etc.) to accom modate 125 such students. How will they meet the needs o f these children? Eastview can accommodate a total o f 596 students o f all grades. They will be struggling with an estimated 796 students, requir ing up to eight portables. -W hy can't the French Im m ersion grade 7 & 8's go to nearby Gladys Speers, where there will be up to 17 em pty classrooms? -Is this not a better use o f Board resources and tax payers' money? -It may only save our children from one round of this imposed game o f musical schools, but four school moves is better than five. W ho w ould w ant their child in this sit uation? Your article was well written and accurate. I hope this letter clarifies the issue further, for those who may have been confused. I also hope the communities o f West Oakville French Immersion, Gladys Speers and Eastview can work with our trustee. Drew Currah, and the entire Board to am end this decision, for the sake o f all our chil dren. Newspaper re-design a hit with reader Just a note to say that I immediately noticed the new look for the Oakville Beaver starting with the November 14th edition - and I like it! I think it gives "North America's M ost Awarded Community Newspaper" a very smart front appearance. I don't know about the printing/newspaper business, so I don't know how to talk technical ly about the changes, but I do know that these changes were immediately perceptible to me and positive. I think it's a more classic look that I see. I immediately thought about communi cating my approval to you, and soon noticed that you guys had your thinking caps on again, pro viding an address for com ments on p.2. O ver the years I've enjoyed receiving the Beaver to keep in touch with community events, politics, comment etc. Anyway, well done Beaver team! JAMIE AIRTH Police & morality strange bedfellows In "N eighbourhood Pot L abs Busted" (Oakville B eaver Nov. 16,2001), you m ention the H alton Police's "Drug and M orality Unit." W hy are the H alton P olice enforcing m orality? A nd w hose m orality are they en fo rcin g? Is there an official national Canadian m orality? W here can I obtain a copy o f this docum ent? A re the police enforcing Protestant m orality or Catholic m orality? They differ on several significant issues; som e things condem ned in one are perm itted in the other. W hen I have questions about moral behav ior, I consult a trained and ordained m em ber of the clergy. The notion that police officers, with their som ew hat different training, have taken it upon them selves to scrutinize and enforce the com m unity's m orals is, quite frankly, very chilling. The notion that the governm ent takes its preferred system o f m orality and translates it into crim inal law sm acks o f 14th-Century Europe and the Inquisition, and is dow nright terrifying. DELIA KERR-BROWN M aple Grove School ROBERT MERKIN Pud F f H & Y M O M , CA M I so m e By STEVE NEASE HAVE. ^ CHRISTINE DEVOY War on drugs is money misspent Re: Neighbourhood p ot labs busted, Oakville eaver Nov. 16,2001. Unless and until newspapers such as yours begin to include in their drug bust stories a recognition o f the fact that many feel the war on drugs is (1) a failure, and/or (2) the main source o f funds for terrorists, and/or (3) unconsti tutional, and/or (4) a state sanctioned pogrom designed to ruin the lives o f the innocent few who happen to enjoy cer tain drugs, this appalling program will continue much longer than it should. There is no more reason to punish drug users and deal ers today than there was in the past to hang witches, lynch blacks or gas Jews. P E o f t E O V E R F R ID A Y 1 N lG H T F o R A U m tffc R lY OOSB FRIENDS ALAN RANDELL