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Page 18, Whitby Fre Press, Wednesday, Fobruary 28, 1996 Life Whitby resildents want no part- of poosais Make achool ont Of board office This p wek hegoement of New Brunswck eddto olminat'e bal school boards ln favouraf ,ýInceaslng the power of >l O üentcouncls. Havlng hoard Ibm soeoftheparents .who -are lInvolven the, cotrvesyover the new Andemôün public sohool, rm coninood dha New Brunswick la onto aomething. At the kms chool board meeyngýthe Issue of the new public echool was flot on the agenda, until 10:15 p.m. when k had crawled to the top of the list, and thon. public Input was limfted Io just a few of the many parents who had corne that evening. That's not just poltlcally clever, Irs belng.rude. The message 'was clear. Whether you Mke t or not, this sohool là golng ln; whether you like R'or not, your chlld will be forced te attend R; whether you like kt or not, we are golng to Introduce the year-round schooling calendar and if wo have three grades ln one room, then so be it. Hock, If we noed more studonts, we'II just change the boundarlos again, they're flexible.' Hore's a bot: sometime ln the next couple of yoars, the board wvil commission a ustudym of year- round schoollng. They Wil disoeor,n surprise, surprise. that the' altemnate calondar providos an menhanced loamling envlroniment that la more ln tune wlth the needs of the 21lst century.w And thon, whother wo like R or not, more and more sohools wlI b. oencouragocr to adopt this "now and more croativoalternative that allows our children te, competo'on a global scale."o When alIday kindorgarten was Introduced, opposition from teachors was effedlively sllencod and parents were marglnallzed. l's the same- pattern ail over again. Actuaily Ne solvod the whole problomn. 1 have a cost-effoctive Idea that the taxpayer wil bye and would allow the board te "hoe In touch wth the. loamlng oxperience of the children of Durham Region.0 Clearly wo* need a new K8 school for north Whftby and we have an existing facillty just sittlng there on Taunton Road. Sa lors convert the new board headquartors Into a new school and thon erect a whole- bunch« of portapao portable- units rlght bohind Anderson as the board office. Afler ait. f portables make good classroomns for aur children, then thWyshouk be superb office space and l'm sure that Anderson would be. dofghted to off or their faclrty for the monthly nover happns, 1ut it s a c Devobopmont Bank of Canada? 1 wrote to ail our local MPs on Jan. &8'and sdE have flot heard. But l'm Inot gMvng up, wo'ro stili searcln g frprivato sectdor sponso 7ship ami l'm hopeful. Sty tne By Mike Kowali Whitby residents have again voioed their opposition te resculng Metro Toronto from its economlc woes. Although emal ti numbers, those attending last Tuesday's Town coundil-sponsored meeting on the future of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA> agreed that Durham Region taxpayers should flotb. expected te 'bail out" their western neiglibours. Speaker after speaker condemned recommendations for reforming the GTA that are contalned tI a controversial report now before the Ontario goverriment. Among the more contentious of the 51 proposais put forward by the GTA Task Force are a revamping of the existing residential property tax system and a pooing of commercial and industrial education taxes. "What w. need-is a strong vote te tell this goverrnment that we're flot prepared to heip out Toronte with the mess they've created," said Angus Smith. "They'vo got te get their own house ti ordor firet before looktng te other people te help themn out," satld Smith, one of 16 speakers who addressed an audience of about 75 ti the coumeil chambers. 'Tht. wiil be taxation wtthout representation if it go.. through," Smith said of a proposai te scrap regional govorrimonts ti favour of one giant Greater Toronto Council. Smaiior municipalittes like Whitby, for exampie, would have te share their one seat on the proposed council on a rotating baste. Dtrecting hie ccmments at Durham Centre MPP Jim Flaherty, Smith deiivered a blunt order te the froshman Whitby representativo. "Jim, take the message back te Your Party, wo don't want it," he said te applauso from the sparse, but enthustastic crowd. Flaherty was part of a panel wtth Mayor Tom Edwards and Whitby, administrator Bill Wallace.. Tom McCormack, a member, of the GTA Task Force, liad been Invited take part as well but was forced to decline due to another comxntment, Edwards said. Although ho told the audience ho was thero only, to listen, Flaherty was careful to distance hlmself and hi. government from the overal thrust of the task force'. recommendations. "I'm flot heire to justlfy what Golden lias wrltten," satd Flaherty in referring to taïk force chair Dr. Anne Golden, president of the United Way of Greater Toronto. "Golden was appointed by the former NDP govenment, but ail of us ýtaxpayers paid for the report and it do.. raise a number of issues of importance to southerri Ontarlo," h. sald. The task oroe's oeil for an actual value assessment (AVA) system which i. similar to market value asseesment (MVA> t. ratsing considerable interest, flot oniy in the GTA, but throughout the province, Flaherty noted. Generaily, assessment wouid increase ti older neighbourhoods under such a system and go down in newer areas, he said. "That's assessment, flot taxes," Flaherty stressed. "The level of taxation i. flot set by the province, it'. set by the miii rate which te set by municipalittes and school boards." While he agreed with FlahertysB description of the asseesmont system as a "hiodgo podge," Hugh Nicholson satd Toronto may*flot have experienced, its- current probleme if it had adopted tax reformn 15 years ago. A former -property tax asseseor, Nicholson satd "hundreds of man hours and dollars" were spont on devieing a new echemo for the city but the report was shoived due te the clout Toronto MPSPs carried had in former premier Bill Davis' Progressive Conservative governnient Nicholson said Toronto is "attl on the same antiquated system"' that ha. large, older homes often paying less the. emaller ones. "Jim, If you look around the house (Ontario legisiature) you'll mme most of the, mexnbers on your side weren't elected from Metro Toronto.- he said.' Despite several, d emanda for a local- plébiscite 'on tih. Issue, Flaherty did not view' this as a workable method of soltciting the views of area, restdents. "I think referenda have a place on certain Issues, but the probiem i. there are 51 recommeridations i the Golden report,"he saïd. That'S orie long questionnaire, ho said, "rm not, sure t&i cornpleity of the Issue can b. reduced te one question." However, tht. prompted a warning from Tom Pritéhard and others that Queen's Park could Impose an unwanted system on non-Metro municipalities. "1 see a paraliel te Bull 26," said Pritchard of the goverrnent'a controversiai omnibus legisiation which essentially concentrates more power ti fewer hande. "There were a number of things and issues i it and it paseed as a whoie," ho said. "As a courtesy at least, that's the way it (vote) should be within the GTA." Echotng Pritchard's remarks, an oiderly Pickering Village resident recaiied that the Davis government imposed a regional system over much opposition ti the. early 1970s. "We were teid by the provincial govenment that we had rio option. .We-ý,ould be part ofAjax and partr of Durham Region," he said. Whtle much of the discussion was ti a similar vein, a 40-year resident of Whitby brought down the houe with her suggestion that "1k. t.hey do overseas," Metro send a delegation te Durham "te se. how we do a budget here." .Following the meeting, Flaherty said that whule ho did flot hear "anythiing new," it reinforced what area- residents have been telhig hlm for the past several weeks. Flaherty conceded It was 'Tair commenrt" t question why the government would not put a stop te the procese now, but mdld the answer le not that simple. "People have inadeît clear about a GTA super-goverriment but there's more ambiguity on taxes," ho said. "People say'w. don't want our taxes te subuidize Metro Toronto,' but wheher we go to AVA or MVA or some otheri variation, that's a decision the government will have te make." Sehool boards hfere ffrm to respond< to GTA plan The Durham, Halton, Pool "and York public, echool boards have hired a consultant te prepare a response te, the Golden Report on the Greater Toronto Area. Kent Education Resources'and Consultants Inc. wil identify, issues involving the four régions, and the impact of, the 'Golden Report, recommendations, ti-the. response te be made to ýthe provincial govorniment'e GTA panel*' that includes former Durham- Regfion chair Walter. Beath. The four boards, made a joint presentation, outiining their concernas and recommendations, te:ý the' Golden Commission last' September. Some of the recommendations were reflected ti the Golden report. The. four public boards have a total' of 287,000 students i 497 schools. School board nomninated for wrldawr By Mark Reesor The Durham publice chool board te on. ofonly sever ithei world te be' nomlnated for a prestiglous international award. Along with echool systems from Hungary, The Nethierlands, Norway, Scotland, Swltzerland and New Zoaland, it's up for a $312,000 (Cdii) award from the Cari Berteismanri Foundation. Sinclair Secondaiy School te is e tncluded in tiie nomination as a "echool demonetrating the effoctiveness of the. echool system"; the board was chosen because It "represents the. beet framework for the. desired developmient of schools." Tihe Berteismarin Foundation, the charitable arm of a large German - educational text 'and goverriment publishing house honours "outstanding public systeme" -this year it'. echool systems ti difféerit countries every year, according te Michael Fullan, dean of tii. University of Toronto'. faculty of education. Fullan te on a four-member commiission - two Canadians and two -Americans - who unanimoueiy chose Durham from a short liet' of 12 districts ti Canada and the. U.S. The. etght criteria thoy used ti their decieton were: concerri of echools for tii. learning and hif. chances of children and youngr people;, innovation and evolutio"n; enlployéee >poten tial; ^-Innovative achool l.adershlp;-partiition o pupis, parents and other agoncies; co-operation between« individual schools and external decieton-makers; evaluation and quality assurance; a framework which supports innovative school dçveiopment on the national level. Two representativo. appotnted by the. foundation will visit each of tho seven .systeme te evaluate them - they'ro scheduied te b.ti Durham and e.. Sinclair March 6-8. "In that three days we're goirig te have te prove te them ahi of the. things that have been written, al of the. things that have beon said, are ti fact true," said staff devlopm.nt officer Norm Green. Sinclair was chosen by Fullan because it's an exempiary echool and staff "are an arnalgam of teaciiers from ail over the. district... they not oniy have the. experienoe at Sinclair te draw on, but tiiey cari aso talk te these researchers about their oxporionces in their othor schools they've been part of." The nomination i. a tremendous reassurance that the educatiori avaflable te studonts in Durham i.; of the htghest quaiity," said Green. Tii. criterla for the award are "extremoiy higli; they're the. Olympie standards of education; if you're not functioning i aIl eight categories, you're riot going to, make It te, the final group." <Representatives of the seven sytmeaeinvlted 'to Germany - ailexenespald - ti AprIlfor the. announcement cf the winner and te exchange ideas.: "What a shot in the arm tuis I.," said board chair Audrey MacLean, adding if's "unfortunate that we have te go outaide aur own community te get rocognized." 'Tht. i. just extraordinary," said Whltby truste. Patty Bowman.' "rm just extremely proud.". Hospitalfunding--cuts FROM PAGE i mlnister, -réhabilittation hospitals will oniy b. eut by 2.5,per cent ti 1996-97 as, compared te an average five per cut for'acute care facilities. "Tht. recognizes that réhabilitation hospitais are likely te handle increasing numbers -of patients as acute caie hospitais' restructure," Sz.ndo states. Ajax' & Pickering General Hospital president Bruce Ciff said Wilson wiil b. asked te lower what Chiff termed an unfair reduction based on outdated data. > Ciff satd tii. cuts werederived from figures compiled prier hie hospital undergoing a major restructuring and exparinion. "Tht. reduction te based on '93-94," 'Cliiff expiained. "Our current case cost and length of stay is in the acceptable range,," ho said. "We're disappointed, with all w. have done,- that "tii.- cuts wore based on two.year.old data." Durham Ceëntîe .MPP Jim- part~y complainte that. hi. government is reneglng on an election campaigri pledge flot ta cut health care spending. Former NDP heahth' minister Day. Cooke,ý for cone, termed the. $365-million reduction "tii. btggest broken promise of 'tiem ail," i reports carriedelsewhere hast week. Flaherty said the govrnment i. comrmitttemaintaining health car. funding at $17.4 billion but, will strive toeloiminate -any "inefficiency and waste" tithe. system. "Cooke'. assumption. te«'that we're reducing ,» health , care. sponding from *17.4 'billion'. and we're not," ho irisisted. "Wo'r making reductions in' tii. system where there's waste. There le money that cari bu moved around in the. system and put te botter use," said Flaherty, .montioning as an oxample the.$2 million targeted ta htigh-growth' areas. Tht.' year's cutý. manwhihe. le