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The Acton Free Press Wed December Halton board public school teachers pledge cooperation Board reviewing question period A new era teacher board of education operation may have begun in Halton last week when spokesmen for the board and the regions male public school teachers agreed to throw open lines of communication between the two grops Chairman Mrs Judy Alexander of the Board of Education urged a meeting of male teachers to attend board meetings and to invite the trustees who serve on the board Into their classrooms and staff rooms She said the point isnt mutual agreement but rather mutual dependency We need each other she told the teachers and for the sake of the kids wed better bridge the gap between us To applause Mrs Alexander spoke to a meeting of the Halton District of the Ontario Public School Men Teachers Federation held in Milton Federation represents all male elementary teachers In the province The board chairman was roundly applauded for her recommendation of Increased communication between the board and the teachers Neil Davis provincial president used the word partnership todescrlbethc new relationship when he rose to comment on Mrs Alexanders remarks Davis said that in future the only relationship between teachers and trustees can be partnership The bearded and well spoken Federation president from Peel Region said this partnership was essential Liberals wont help HEAL Teachers like hard line on Renaissance Last weeks meeting In a jammed Milton church hall was an hour old and the male public school teachers from Region were in a good mood Chairman Mrs Judy Alexander of the Board of Education had been saying things they agreed with and their own lion president had suggested future dealings between the two groups looked rosy Then the questions started with many concerning Items of little Interest to the citizen such as pupil teacher ratios Then a six footer stood up addressed himself to Mrs Alexander and said he had had his fill of reading news paper articles in which minority groups like Renaissance were criticizing the educational system Too democratic The determined speaker accused the board of being too democratic by letting minority groups monopolize the meetings and the press The teacher told Mrs Alexander that the board should back up the teachers The board should say so youve got 30 dirty books In your library we re backing you Fellow teachers lapped and roared their approval The board chairman ap peared moved by the response and began to reply by saying the board was reluctant to cut off access to te public but then Mrs Alexander stopped and said the board is moving in the direction that the teacher asked More applause She continued weve been supportive of the programs of ours on which wove been attacked and the teachers shouted and clapped ogam Alternatives The board has been at tacked this fall by Renaissance for permitting alleged indecent books like Go Ask Alice and I Never Loved Your Mind to be used in schools The Halton board has refused to remove the books but stressed alternative material is available if a itudent or parent objects to a particular book Nell Davis provincial president of the public school teachers then offered his members some PR advice He told them to forget Renaissance because you don attack minority groups Instead he said the federation has the public relations personnel and the funds to wage a publicity campaign to promote the positue aspects of going on In our schools He said District teachers should also take publicity steps to inform the public about the teachers position on prominent issues of the day Ontario Liberals wont be Setting involved in the battle the Board of Education and Education Action League HEAL HEAL President Betty Fisher said this week that she has talked to Liberal shadow cabinet education critic John Ferris and while he path lies with some of the group problems he wont get involved He said reserve funds have always been a problem and he fought against them when he was chairman of the London Board of Education but they are legal so there isn t anything he can do about them Mrs Fisher said She noted reserve funds set up by Halton Board of Education and made up of money des tined to be spent on students is a key aspect of HEALs battle with the board over its building expansion at bonrd headquarters Burlington Mrs Fisher didnt hide her disappointment in Ferris decision not to interfere when she said They arent there just to stop illegal actions In a minority situation they should be pressuring the government to change the education act to abolish reserve funds She says arent sent to Toronto just to look at things from a legal standpoint but also to make changes and examine things to see where reform is needed One interesting thing he said was that when he was a trustee in London he visited the Board and was amazed how quickly things happen He said he was amazed an entire budget could be passed without much debate and observed the meetings were very cut and dried and sterile Benefits Liberals must choose winner go up Heltons Federal Libera Hiding Association hopes to help finance the next Federal election from funds raised through the newly organized Century Club Association president Walter Elliott of told a group of Liberals Friday night that the executive hoped to sell about 150 memberships to the Century Club He pointed out the mem berthip fees are considered tax deductible Century Club members would be entitled to attend certain functions through the year at no cost while members would pay or for tickets There are a lot of Liberals In this riding but most of them have not renewed membership dues he said Delegates During the meeting Eliza Mrs Laurie Harris Peter ftalker and Slim Streak were elected as to the provincial Liberal leadership conven tion That convention will be held at the Four Seasons Sheraton Hotel in Toronto Jan to Liberals will choose delegates to that convention at a meeting slated for Ernest School tomorrow night Thursday area delegates attended a meeting In Oak vlUe last night Tuesday to hear from seven committed likely contestants for the race those either committee to running or expected to announce their commitment In the next few days are MPPs Albert Roy of Ottawa Dave Peterson of London Stuart Smith of Hamilton Pat of Rainy River and Larry Condon of Strathroy MPs in the race include Mark of Windsor and Jim of Kit chener According to alternate delegate Judy Savage the upcoming convention holds the key to the future of the Liberal party in Ontario She warned must band together to choose a person If the right man Isnt chosen the Liberal party in Ontario could sink into nothing She said she was prepared at this time to support Smith the Hamilton physician who was elected for the first time as an MPP in the Septi election Peter Mathews another who had hoped to be a dele gate explained the political realities of the convention Whoever you choose he has to be a man who is able to win He can be the most competent guy in the world but if he win what good is he to you 75 permits down Building permits in Hdls are down million dollars from the same time last year The total at the end of November was IIS while this years total is Permits in November this year were up over from last year but only half of the October total The Government of Canada last week announced it was a Christmas present to 725000 Canadians who re ceive Canada Pension Plan benefits It announced Canada Pen sion benefits are to be raised by 1 per cent Jan I to reflect the increase in the lost of living this year The new maximum full retirement pension will be a month The mum disability pension will and monthly bene fits for children of the dis abled and orphans will be Ml Maximum monthly pen sions for surviving spouses will be for persons under age and for those over WELCOME SERVICE If you are new in town or know someone who is PHONE 8533902 and referred to the legitimate right of the teaching community to be involved in the decision making process affecting the children Not tn kins over But Davis qualified himself at this point to say this doesn mean the teachers want to take over Said the Federation dent We believe very strongly in and respect the autonomy of the school boards to govern And he went on to praise the decentralized rds of education which give Ontario a strong ttonnl system However Davis said decisions affecting boards and teachers such as terms and conditions of employ ment must be negotiated together He said the Federation has approached such negoi tat ions ibly to date The Federation president said every board of education committee should have his representatives on It to get the teacher input He said the Board of Education would be stronger if there was more serious operation from organizations like teacher federations Find out And you must attend board meetings and find out whats going on he told the teachers crowded Into a steamy church hall Davis also said teachers have to work hard to interest parents in school develop ments rather than just having an open house at the school once a year He said there is public ignorance about what is happening In schools today and many parents ore bewildered The schools ore the Subtle schools and they n right to be there he said There has to be an introduction to the school followed up with further Not all on strike In a reference to the month old strike by high school teachers in Metro Toronto Davis said it would be fortunate if all teachers were condemned by parents because of a strike by one group He noted that only of Ontarios secondary school teachers were on strike and none of the pro vinces 000 public school teachers were off the Job Sn Id David avoided if both sides can maintain an open minded attitude to each other Halton Board of Education decided last week to review the types of queries they have received during question to sec if the board should continue or cancel question period Question period Is a minute time allotment at board meetings set aside to allow the public to ask trustees and officials questions II was started last Trustee Noel Cooper suggested board chairman Judy Alexander prepare a report for the board dealing with the types of questions asked by residents He noted it was time to re view the question periods RIDE FREE CHRISTMAS BUS usefulness and said the report will show if the questions arc falling within the boards Intentions for setting it up Cooper stated the question period was designed to give taxpayers a chance to get clarification matters which concern them He added if properly used the question period can be useful After we get the report and examine the kinds of questions which have been asked we can either continue it or cancel It Mrs Alexander agreed to prepare the report for the trustees consideration Since the question period first started last summer many parents have asked questions on a variety of topics 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