Whitby Free Press, Wednesday,,.October 16,, 19960,.Page 7 The tradition of political kite f1ying works well. This way< a stery can be leaked; the press plays it up big, deceived inte thinking it has a scoop. If reaction is unfavourable, politicians disown the story. The press got it ail wrong. If the reaction is favourable, the government can continue fuill speed ahead. Legall, of course, the government' can abolish school boards, since ail municipal functions (including school boards: cities, tewns, regional governments) are al creatures of the province. As such, they can be un- creatured just as easily. But politically, could the governmnent? Says Durham Board of Education chair Audrey MacLean: <Its not as easy as it looks. Replacing boards with regional panels might sound plausible. But nobody's going te cali about, classroom issues.» And, MacLean points out, school boards are the most legislated government bodies in the province. Boards get te set budget, hire the directer, negotiate contracts, set policy and oversee operational staff. The province maintains a tight rein on board activities. "We have a lot of responsibility but littie authority," MacLean says. Two current board activities at least seem destined te go. Crombie is expected te recommend that education tax be removed from municipal taxes. With it would go the responsibility of setting budget. Ini addition, Snobelen has been known te favour province-wide bargaining for teachers.. Snobelen's challenge will be te strip the power from school boards while leaving local parents with a feeling of control. This could be done in one of two ways. First, existing parent councils could-be given more clout beyond their purely advisory roles. MacLean's view: ...-It would be important te asIc those now involved if they wish te take on more responsibilities. rve spoken te people sitting on school councls and some tell me they can't imagine being involved more deeply." Local school issues can create a lot of lightning. Another option would be for Snobelen te allow charter sc *hools in the province. Charter sehools, an experiment now sweeping through several states in the U.S., essentially fund private schools w ith public money. Charter schools are by legislation freed from some g overnment restrictions (often including teacher contracte) and in return promise resuits. Critics see this as the beginning of fragmentation of public education. The bottem line with all the changes, of course, is Snobelen's promise toecut a further $1 billion from education. What you see on the horizon -- the near horizon -- is this black funnel cloud, this Twisîter. After it cuts a swathe through education in Ontario, you may not recognize anything. Education tax, school boards, al may be gone with the wind. When it's ail over, the challenge will be te rebuild a functional system out of devastation. L I Swept away I Y Y ES T E RD.. .................. il RUINS 0F EDWARDSW EU>«ING SHOP, OMBER 1%,1954 This building, once a blacksmith shop, was destroyed by liigh winds in Hurricane Hazel, one of the worst storme ii Whitby's history. The brick shop was located where the Bell Telephone building is now, on Brock Street, north of Dunlop Street. In the early part of this oentury it was operated by William Hurlbert and J.J. O'Connor. Whltby Archive. photo 10 YEARIS AGO from the Wednesday, October 15, 1986 edition of the WITBY FUMER PRESS 0 Federal, provincial and municipal representatwves willrecognize Whitby's participation in Heritage Canada's Main Street prograro tomorrow. 0 Whitby Lanes is being built between Brock and Periy Streets, south of the Royal Hotel. 0 A group of Japanese teachers touring Canada visited Anderson Collegiate on Oct. 10. 0 Croven Crystals workers have ratified a two-year contract after a three-week strike. 35 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, October 12, 1961 edition of the wHITBY WEEIKLY NEWS m * District 707 Governor Dr. IL Kingstone told the W hitby, Rotary Club to take personal action to avoid stagnation. * Renovation of the Public Utilities Commission offices at Brock and Coîborne streets bas been completed. * Whitby Baptiat Church observed its 85th anniversary on Oct. 10. * Whitby Chamber of Commerce and Whitby Industrial Commission want a fuil-time There's a scene in the movie Twister where hero Bily WhatzizName grabs'a handfuil of dust from the parking lot and lets it slowly drift from his haiid. Then hie lifts his eyes to the dark clouds on the horizon. There, with his nose axnong the lightning flashes, hie senses a storm a'coming. Notjust any storm. A Twister. In the same vein, would it be vain of me, dear'reader, te sense a similar storm about -to descend on us from Education Minister John Snobelen? (Here I grasp the handful of dust. See how it drifts gently fr-om my hand, puifs away ini an updraft.) Someday this week, tiny perfect former mayor David Crombie should release his version of how municipal finance should be reformed. No date has bee n set for the announcement, which leaves a lot of room for kite flying. 1The largest kite so far may have been last F'riday's edition of the Toronto Star. There, in 72 point bold type: Tories plan to scrap al chool boards. The stoiy is attributed te, unnamed. "sources," and claims the cabinet has already approved a plan te eliminate. school boards. The province would. then be divided into nine regions each of which would have four panels: public, separate, in both English and French. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday, October 16, 1896 edition of the WarTBY CHONICLE * Holliday Brothers at Brooklin are selling Canadian coal oil for lam a at 18 cents a gallon. P * An inquest was held into the death of 18-year.old Levi Bailey wrho was believed te have died of arsenic poisoning. * Constable William Calverley seized the possessions 0f farmer Joseph D. Thompson of the base line to pay back taxes. * A troupe of live monkeys will performa at the Music Hall on Oct. 17. !Mill jp BLIZZ' J-1ARRCiME m7.