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Page 6, Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, October 23,1996 The only NewsPaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for'Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: Canadian Communihy Newspaper Association lw Ontario Community Whitby Whitby Business Oshawa-Durham Home Chamber of- Commerce in Action Builders'Association The WhitbyFree Press is ,llstributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashbum & Myrtle as well as numerous public andj commercial outets in Whtby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 28,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUeSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $36 + GST e, Outside Canada $85 +- GST. ISSN#0844-3geX Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario lnC. 900 Hopkins St. /Box 206, Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-611il Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Donald G. Hinton - Sales Manager Alexandra Martin - Production Manager P.inted on newsprint with minimum 20% 4% recycled content using vegetable based inks. toi Ait wnitten mateniat, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protecled by copyright. Any reproduction by an y means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright taw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit fine to the W h tby Free Press. . I~ma.mm 'Playboy' philosophy To the editor: Re: B11 Swan column, 'Forts', Free Press, Oct. 9. 1 suppose Rtlis spersonal vlew that lb Ils acceptable for a 13-year-old boy to plaster the. fort walls ln pornographlc centrefoldsfrom Playb!oy. Frst, wiere le this 13-year-old getting the plctures (from dad?'). SeoondlFy, lb seems àk. Swan le not fanilar wth the "Playboy pibsophy", or rm sure he wvuldn't be lettinp ils chIld decorate the wails with iL The phibsophy centres around the hedonlsdlifestyle, spl'ed Up with the idea 0f sex for sex sake, and women are sexuaily objectifled for pleasure and disposai only - no ioving relationshîps, no famîly dies. Mr. Swan must not be aware' of the White Ribbon campaign which is a national awareness campaign as t0 the harrnful effects 0f pomnography on our socieby as a whole. The Town of Whitby has proclasmed Saturday, Oct. 26 as White Ribbon Day. This wouldb. a good lime for such people to become educated about the insidiaus effects Of porogapy ndhow k necatve, efetsyong mînds. Susan Shetior Barb Lalng People Agalnsî Porno 'Brothers' appreciate response Tro the oditor:' The staff and board of directors bhank aIl who helped or offered 10 help'*after a lire, destroyed au r Oshawa offices on Aug. 25. The response from the people, and businesses 0 f the cornmunlty was amazing and w. greatly appreciate it Oshawa Mayor Nancy Dlamnond siowed concern and kîndness. aur landlord Randy Jefery and hîs staff helped out and Brian Bradley let us use his Vacant offices for the next three months. Big Brothers Association of Oshawa-Whltby To the editor: Dunham Board of Educatior wiins award for excellence," the headllnes applauded. Overcome by the jubilant news, 1 immediately started cornplling .a 'letter of ~congratulations. Before 1 had a chance to polish my letter of, pralse, the climate changed.' The vîctors seemed to become somethlng other than Just proud winners: bhey turned Into arrogant academlc elitisbs, companing their award to th. Nobel Peace Prize, 'the Acariemic Olympics, and more' Uc. wfnnlng tie platinum medal than just. the gold. These wlnners were quoted in the papers as. saying that they_ were "simply- the best in -the worldu and were asked »to teaci other boards a thi ng- or two. Everyone got on the bandwagon. 1Pumped-up. citzens wrote congratulaîory lebters*8 b o the editor condemning our minister of education.- Educators called hifm a h1gh school dropout who knew nohIîng about education, and that the system the minîster called. broken didn't need flng In Duriam as it *sîmnply was tie- best.0 The chair 0f the Durhamn board went as far as to actually ask the. Udnster 0f Education 10 resgn, as he nobviously doesn't have an idea of what education In this Province Is ail about.« This, and a month of shouting f rom on-higi that our education systemn "is sîmply the best In the'wvorldu led me to Invesigate before sending any letter of sIncere congratulations. 1 found a number of confllcting, and otherwlse amblguous points ln the 1. The sampling anc competition for nbhe best ln the world" was lmited 10 Canada and six other countries (hardly a global sampllng). 2. The Durham board was not chosen by the Bertelsrnanr Foundation, who gave the award. R was chosen by a committee headed by Uchael Fullan, dean 0f the facufty of education, ,"Unlversity of Toronto, who also selected Sinclair, Secondary- School as the representative school. Fullan was contacted and appolnted by the Bertelsmann Foundation to head the selection -committee ln, Canada. 3. mhe Bertelsmann Foundation, ln the end, dld send -over two representalives t0 take a look i our magnificlent school and Iavsh board offices. 4. Dean. Fullan and fils committee, presumably.,with the, help 0f Durham admînistrators, complied a 20- page report for the Bertelsmann . Foundation, including an "Appralsal 0f the School System in Reference to the Criterla." Elght criteria are mentioned. These seem mostiy conjecture and fanciful thinking -- short on substantive quailty or practicai application. Criteria headings were somethlng Rk. Innovation and Evolution, Empboyee Potential, Innovative Sohool Leadership, Cooperation . Between lndMduaJ Schools and Externat Decision Makers, Evauston and Quaiîtv Assuran<m sinr4 Innovative School Developmeot and the National Level." Lots of emphasis on "Innovation," no mention of student marks or employability of graduates. 5. The. Bertelsmann' organization Is a multimedia congbmerate dolng about $15 billon a year in business, The Bertelsrnann Foundation Is a thlnk tank, whlch examines a dîfferent' public orgariîzation. eactiý year. Last year they assessed the public economlc machlnery 0f a number 0f nations: Portugal waiked away wlth the prize. This year It was Apparently, only the theoretical and "niniovaive aspects 0f the sysbern were considered: the end product was *certalnfly neyer put 10 the test -At Ieast, as far as I know, Durharn students were neyer matched against those.-0f cornpetîng countries In any form f academlc competition. Now,everyone knows that* the proof f the pudding is ln the eatlng. ft doesn't matter wlth how much aplomb and showmanship the master chef throws the pudding together, If it doesnI tbaste right, its a fallure. Ukewise, if we want to give an award 10, a car manufacturer,. the flrst thing that cornes t0 mind is 10 kick the tires and test-drive their best car. So then, the. question arises, what did aur Durham board get the award for? And how and at what do they reckon that they are uslmply the best In the whole world?" And, 0f course, one has to ask the question,, how did the prestiglous Bertelsmann Foundation wind up plcklng Canada as the wiînner from a total of seven international sohool systems? Quite simply, for- the foundation It was a brain- picking exercise to see what contrasting modern educallon system -trends ,,exlst lnternationally. Giving Canada an. award was. a. politicaIly expedient an'dcorrêéctthing tô do, sînce we had already won the booby prize from the United Nations earller ln the year as the mnost-poItlý correct and 'muhibfturaly fniendly nation on'earth. 1, wish I could corne to a different conclusion and could belleve that aur educatlon sysemn excelled and- was competitive ,wlth 'European nations. But until we have pro0f- that our students corne out on top ln the International lob- market, after graduatlng from Durham, I can' accept that we are the best ln the worid, and R lsfolly to say's6 and use such drivel -polltioelly. aantour minister ,0f educaion. 9f our ltjstrlous school board canlt even cut costs by three to four per cent without cryîng or affecting our klds' education, It Is tJmey who should be asked to reslgn, not the minister. They have a long way to go to achleve bru. excellence. Jann Flury Oshawa School system is working To th. editor: .You are looking -for efficiencles ln the wrong place if yau believe that the Crombie Commission or the. Paroian Commission -wMIlprovide arnswers wiich reflect the Input 0f an educated public. These commissions MuI prepare reports consistent wfbi the political viewpoint 0f the current govemnment aW lie expense '0f a 'systern 0f educaIon whlch, accordlng to tie government Internet .messacge, ias produced "an experlenced, epabIe and wei-educated . rKforce" and also "Ontanlo has an excellent, hlghly dleveloped standardlzed pubicMduation system."* - cuttrig- bureaucracy bY ropWacng --and/oir'-reducdng schoo boards cannoe possibly Yilký the $1 billion ln annual savlngs whlch rumours have predlcted. Currentiy 99 public sciool boards wibh 1,200 trIstees (the majority earn Iess than $10,000 annually) would b. passing the burden 0f their dedision-rnaklng -10 850 municipalities and 5,000 municipal councillors who already have full agendas. Do -yau really believe that children ln Ontario who, according 10 the vwords of our own current govemment, have an excellent system of educadon, wdi be beter served by municipal counciliors who must decide which has more prlority, a sewer or a chlld's education? Since 1843, members of the public- have- been able- ta contact local school trustees 10 saving school board costs. express their concernis and Students in these schools stili Impact on the excellence of our need classrooms, teachers, sciools. Tii. United Nations supplies, transportation and Human Deveioprnent Report administration. Parents of ail for 1996 has identified Canada tiese students know that as the number one place In the students are naît sltting In near wrid 10 live wti respect to fe empty facilties. Parents know expectancy, educational thithtey have fundraised 10 autairnment and income. We did provide their students, not become number one out 0f regardless 0f tie system, wih 174 countries around the world supplies wiici are now because education needs an available In limited numbers overiaul. Seventysx per cent due to redutidons In provincial 0f Ontanio's parents, fin an fundlng of sciool boards. Angus Reid poli conducted In Teachers In ail systems have August, rated the qualty of had wage restraints for over education in aur province as biree years. Boards have had excellent or good because our fundlng reductions for the current systern le successful samne PRl. Even tiaugi staff and is recognlzed as such and service cuts have been araund the world. Irnposed at all levels, povinci Amalgamating school and- municipal, funling cus boardsise not -the. answer ta hhalrnde rnlntaln.ng service to tue sysbem almost Impossible given the realty 0f lncreased costs 0f suci consurnable Items as paper despite efficencles such as sharing transportation, purchasing, copying and computer services. Two measures 0f a provfnce's financial abily are tie gross provincial product (GPP), the value of all the. goods and services produced in a province, and personal lncme per capta, tue average incorne received by a provlnce's residents. In 1995, Ontarlos GPP was 7.6 per cent above lie national average; Ils personal Incorne per capita was 6.3 per cent aoe lie national average. Its educatlon spgndlng wasonl 2.4 pecent aoyétii. national average. In fact wien you take education spending per province as a ercentage 0f tue GPP, wefnd tuat Ontauto's spending was lower than âiî of the. provinces except Alberta and Saskatchewan. m Te realty ls tut we have an effective, efficient education system. The reakllts thait tus gomerment, while advertilng Io businesses ln lie world thaï Ontarlans are weII-educated, Is determlned to convlnce the Publ tuaitls effective system is broken. This govemment must look for efficencles elsewhere. Our schools are effective and effcet becase aiur current system works. muret Sadom-Thompson Board's greatness question.ed