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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1980, WIIITBY FREE PRESS whitfby - (I uied eery enes and Photography Ine. Wn Te Free Press Bidn Volce of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor 1131î Brock Street North, T'he only Whitby newspaper independenly owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. P.O. Box 206. Whitby. 0) tg. 'nt. Michael J. Knol Communlty Editor Marjorle A. Burgess Production Manager Karen Thompson Advertising Manager Mailing Permit No. 480 Member of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce Teachers ' "combatitive rote" not jstife in current contract talks The Durham Board of Education ls taking a "paternalistlc" attitude ln its negotlation.9 with the. secondary achool teachers, represented by the On- tario Secondary School Teachers Federation, who are, In turn, taking a "combatitive" role. These were the observations made by the provincially ap- pointed fact f Inder ln the dispute. T.G. Bastedo sald ln hîs report, which was released last week that this situation was a resuit of the fact that "there la no consultative process between the board and the teachers." He also noted that the current negotiations to arrive at a collective agreement "have not moved easlly or swlftly." Another fact that is worthy of note at this point, because Bastedo states that this is one of the major Issues to be resolved, la that teachers em- ployed by the Durham Board are paid between $14,709 and $30,429 per annum. The average salary paid to a high school teacher Is "somewaht ln ex- cess of $25,0002' Quite frankly, we'd like to know what.ail the fuss la about. From what the fact finder says, it la sim- ple to draw the conclusion that the teachers feel that they are not getting a hlgh enough stlpend. This may or may not be true, however, It la also true that, at an average of $25,000 a year, the average teacher employed by the Board is paid about $10,00 more that the average Canadian worker. That translates into almost $200 a week more that the average Canadian worker. Sînce the question of salary cannot be the problem because of these facts (especially when it la considered that a teacher on the lowest part of the scale Is stili making the national average) what then ls the trouble between these two groups of highly trained, professional people? This la a question that the taxpayer who suppor- ts the Durham Board of Education must take into consideration because thîs question may have, If left unresolved, a serlous and detrimental affect on the educational system ln the reglon. Another area of dispute is the pupli-teacher ratio (affectionately referred to as the PTR). According to the fact finder, the pupil teacher ratio in Durham la 17.87 to one. The OSSTF said ln a recent survey that the average PTR across the province was 16.81 to one. As part of ts demanda in the collective bargainlng proceas, the federation has asked that the regional PTR brought 1Into 11ne wlth the provincial figures. By their own admission, it would mean timat the Durham Board would have to hire approximately 51 new teachers to accompliah this. Assuming that these teachers receive that average salary men- tioned ln the fact finder's report, it wouid coat the Durham taxpayer approximateiy $1.3 million a year. That In turn, would cause the Whitby education property tax bill to increase by $1 90,000. In this publication's humble and honeat opinion, the Durham taxpayer and the Durham Board of Education cannot afford to hire 51 new high school teachers. This la especially so when It la considered that education property taxes are up 12.45 per cent in the Town of Whitby thia year and predictiona show that this figure wlll go up agaîn by a similar amount next year. These increases are generally lmposed because The OSSTF may not like thîs fact, but, the Durham taxpayer cannot afford to give them a In- crease of any substantial amount. It lsaiaso qulte probable that the average Durham taxpayer does not earn as much money as the teachers who are su pported by hils or her tax dollar. In the light of these two major Issues, It la ob- vious to this publication that the teachers are flot in a financial bind as far as their salaries are concer- ned and If the fact flnder's PTR figures are correct, then they are not overworked either since their PTR las not much higher than the provincial average. (This Is also especially true when it la considered that teachers get more time off than the rest of the working population.) End the name-mcalling B>' W. Roger Worth Sticks and stones may break my bones but names wiIl neyer burt me. That aid adage may carry some weigbt in personal rela- tionsbips, but the ridiculaus name-calling eminating from the moutbs ai aur major paliticians is undoubtedly burting the country. in fact, the war ai words bas reached such a crescendo thuat any good mother would wash out ber child's moutb with soap for dealing in the kind ai petty name-calling that bas become front-page news. Roger Worth is Direcf or, -Public Affairs, The problem wlth the present collective bargaining procedure is that the Board feels com- pelled to give ln to the teachers ln an effort to keep the schools open s0 that the education of our children la flot disrupted. During these negotiations, the Board of Education should start to take a tougher stand pointing out to the teachers that excessive or unreasonable cannot be afforded by the taxpayer. On the basis of their average salary and the PTR figures, the teachers should not be assuming a "combatative role" ln the current negotiations considering the general economic state of the average Durham and Whitby taxpayer. Canadian Federation of Independent Business. li's no secret that Premiers Bennett, Lougheed, Peckford and Levesque don(t person- aIly like the Prime Minister, and the saine may be said of some other provincial premiers. If the truth be known, the reverse is probably true. But surely Canadians eleci polilicians to represent their various and' man), limes clashing views. As il stands, many ai our leaders appear to be using their positions as a national soapbox ta deal with personal likes and dislikes. Certainly there are some ver> real Issues wortb iighting about during discussions on constitutional and other mai- ters. And Canada's leaders would be derelict if (bey didn't present well-reasoned argu- ments ta support or reject their positions. But it's high time our poli- ticians -'including those at the federal level - started acting a little more like statesmen and less like bully boys on a local schoolyard. Name calling only exacer- bates the differences, making solutions ta aur problems even harder ta find. IVEDNuIFIED IFLYitAG 030EC1' VJITH 1PEfRO WAWIEA9/l