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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday, M a y 8, 2002 EDITORIALS AND LETTERS THE OAKVILLE BEAVER 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director ROD JERRED Managing Editor THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. Alliston Herald/Couher, Arthur Enterprise News. Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week, Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes. 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F u n d Cc O M E ^P e lc ^ A G G O N i-to A SKA ij^ m r d Suburban Newspapers of America T V A UCTIO N United Way of Oakville GahnUe @/l hvaSs fOft BUSiNESS'RCELLENCE # ~0/« c> The Oakville. M H ton and Dlslrct R EA L ESTATE BO ARD / / / . / / L f ' W tf'T / | oakvllte galleries | |g S Programs must be saved Mike Harris may be gone, but the hangover from his Common Sense Revolution lives on. And with each passing day, it becomes evident it wasn't all com mon sense in the Ontario Tory gov ernment's revolution, there was just a lot of miserly short-sighted penny pinching. Take for instance the news com ing out o f the current Halton District School Board's budget deliberations. At this moment, they are serious ly considering cutting the DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education), Celebrating Literacy and Food for Thought school pro grams. The three programs are aimed at preventing further problems down the road by catching at-risk kids at an early age, and, perhaps, giving them a nudge in the right direction. All three programs might just keep a few children from becoming per manent financial burdens on socie ty further down the road. Yet, the public school board is considering cutting them. Why? The board claims that due to chronic underfunding from the province, it has no choice. Its claim s do not appear hollow because the same scenario is being replayed in almost every school board across the province. We hope the school board is not crying w olf by sending out alarmist signals. We also hope the board is seriously looking into its own administrative budgets to find any fat to trim before putting worthy school programs on the chopping block. Ironically, the news of DARE's imminent dem ise com es on the heels of a seminar last week that called for a team effort from police, educators and parents to fight drug abuse. It now looks like one-third of that equation may be cut off the team. Somehow, these three programs can be salvaged. Over the years, they have benefited the lives of thousands o f Halton school chil dren. A valuable part of our children's education will be lost unless a solu tion can be found. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR P rovin cial fu n d in g sh o r tfa ll th r e a te n s p u b lic e d u c a tio n Ed. note: This letter was addressed to Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer and a copy was filed with the Oakville Beaver. It has been editted for publication. Our school council (E. J. James) would like to welcome you to your new education portfolio. As you will certainly begin your tenure by reviewing the government's education policies, we ask that this review include as soon as possible a re-examination of the current funding model for education. As both you and a Premier Eves have stated, a review of the education funding model is of prior ity importance, and in view of the impending final ization of budgets for the 2002-2003 school year, we would like to emphasize the urgent need to address public education funding. Our school council is very concerned about the lack of adequate funding for Ontario's public schools. At current levels, school boards across Ontario, including our local Halton District School Board, do not have the funds to implement the government's education objectives. Programs and services have already been severely slashed, reserved funds have been depleted and more cuts are coming. In Halton and across the province, we have been feeling the impact of inadequate funding since January 1998 when the Province took over education funding. Library and guidance staff have been cut. Special needs students are waiting in line. Badly needed building repairs are on hold. Textbooks for the new curriculum are in short supply. Schoolbased and board staff have been cut. No funding exists for technical support and training. Transportation costs are under-funded. In Halton, the total funding shortfall per pupil, per school day, is $2.40. This daily loss translates into a $20 million deficit for this board. There are no funds in reserve to offset this deficit. Unless education funding levels increase, boards across the province will be forced to consider more dras tic cuts to programs and services. It is our belief that although many economies have been achieved through education restructuring, it is now time to review and assess. We are gravely concerned that unless funding levels are increased, the ability of our schools to properly deliver quality programs and services will be severely impaired. Increasingly, schools are depending on local fundraising. At E. J. James elementary, school council fundraising has purchased staple items like computers, classroom tools such as math manipulatives, and the renovation/resodding of the playing fields. It would be sad indeed if the ability of schools to have up-to-date technology, properly equipped classrooms, and well maintained facili ties were dependent upon the ability of individual communities to raise the necessary funds. This council applauds the recently announced $65M one-time allocation to school boards to help address the critical shortfall of textbooks. This money addresses a critical need school boards have been experiencing, although one-time grants such as this are helpful in meeting a immediate need, they are not a long-term solution and should not take the place of an adequate and sustainable fund ing strategy. We ask you to review the current edu cation-funding model in order to eliminate short falls currently being experienced across the province. We further urge you to ensure that revi sion to this model includes increased funding for special education, school operations and mainte nance, transportation, and classroom based salaries and benefits. We believe a strong, fully funded public educa tion system is the basis of a vital and prosperous Ontario. We are asking that the Province assume its responsibility to adequately fund this vital public serve. Our children are worth the investment. EJ. JAMES SCHOOL COUNCIL A herbicide is not a pesticide I have to laugh, otherwise I would cry. Pesticide: A chemical preparation for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to ani mals. We have our lawns treated with Merit, a pesticide, every year to kill white grubs. Herbicide: A substance toxic to plants and used to destroy unwanted vegetation. We use Roundup, a herbicide, on our gravel driveway to kill grass and weeds. Yet, we have your correspondent saying, "To use pesti cides or not to use them in our springtime pursuit of a green, weed free lawn." Your correspondent is not alone. We have the medical people of Halton, and even our own Parks and Recreation director, it appears, unaware of the difference between pesticides and herbicides. And, of course, well to the fore, we have the tree hugger type who picks each individual weed by hand, and uses a push mower. The media loves these people! Just what are the facts? Is the Town of Oakville consid ering a complete ban on both pesticides and herbicides? May we point out that Federal Health M inister McLellan, in her first appearance before the Commons environment committee recently, spent a lot of time fending off criticisms that the government had not banned the use of pesticides/herbicides such as are used on lawns and gar dens. She commented, "We considered it, but there is no scientific evidence that these products are unsafe if they are used according to the directions." As I have said before, listen to the facts, not oversubtle emotional appeals. At least, let us get right just what is under discussion! IVOR DAVIES F ir e f ig h t e r s w e r e g u a r d i a n a n g e ls f o r s t r a n d e d w o m a n I'd like to say "thank you" to the two men of the Oakville Fire Department for coming to my aid on April 26 and to my mother and the lady who stopped to offer me a ride when my car broke down at Fourth Line and Rebecca at about 10:15 a.m that day. Being one and a half months pregnant and with a two year old in the car it was an ordeal for me. With cell phone in hand and fourways on, I began to all my mom and CAA for help. Shame on the people for coming up behind me fast, blowing their horns and getting mad at me for not moving. You frightened me so badly that I began to cry and shake. The fire department was driving by and saw my ordeal. These two men turned around and came to my aid. With their lights flashing they got behind my car and pushed me to safety, all the while people were coming behind them and honking their horns for them to move. Shame on you. What if it was your daughter or grand child in the car? Once I was out of the way someone stopped to offer me a ride restoring some of my faith in the public. Just then my mother arrived to pick up my daughter, as these two angels of the fire depart ment helped me calm down. Putting my child seat in my mom's van they went on their way. To them, it was probably all in a days work, but to me it was special. I believe if they hadn't come along we would have been the next victims in the emergency ward of the hospital. I now have no car, but I do have faith and comfort knowing that these two men of the Oakville Fire Department are here in our town to help and protect us all. Hats off to you both for saving my day. BRENDA MONTEATH Lament for a fallen tree I'm a two hundred year Oak Tree, mature, rugged, tall and stately. I've seen people and fam ilies come and go, and cars replace horses. I've stood in old Oakville through every type of weather, snowy and icy winters, stormy springs, sweltering summers and foggy falls. I've worked for Oakvillians purifying their air, removing fumes and pollutants and replacing them with much needed oxygen. I've given shade from the sun's hot rays on humid days to workers and homes alike. I've provided shelter for birds and animals that feed on grubs, mosquitoes, slugs, earwigs, ants and other pests. The hot dry summers split my sides and roughened my bark. I've sighed in the wind and rustled in the rain but never complained. So please, please don't cut me down for doing good, nor take away my water supply by covering my roots with cement or tar leaving me to die slowly, and then be used for firewood. I'm worth far more than that. I'd like to go on living in Oakville, and serve this community as I have for two centuries. If you care about my welfare, help me survive. J.O. BURNELL S p a n k in g n o t a b u siv e M arvin Bernstein, a D irector w ith the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, was reported saying that the sentences on the Randal Dooley case were too lenient. He also implied that section 43 of the Criminal code (which allows spanking) should be elimi nated to prevent this type of deaths. I tend to agree with his first comment. We already know that both parents will be out of prison within 13 and 18 years. When people are sentenced to life in prison, early parole should be the exception, not the rule. Life should mean life for most detainees. However, I disagree with his second statement. The ability of parents to use force within reasonable limits is ultimately in the interest of the child. To say that the solution to child abuse is to eliminate spanking is like saying that we should eliminate all driv ing licences to prevent the tragic case of the man who ran over his estranged wife in Orangeville this week. Most people can figure out the difference between normal and criminal behaviour. GIUSEPPE GORI LEADER, FAMILY COALITION PARTY Pud By STEVE NEASE S P ID E R M A N IS So c o o l' HE. W AS M Y FA V O U R IT E W H E N I W AS A \< IP . '· i Y O UU SED TO R EAD COM ICS? SURE/ ' u k w o rth A U f F N o w / w h e r e is i t ? 7 'Co s t I PROBABLY READ IT A FEW TIMES, THEN IT HI NANA, rrs SAMMY. W OULD You AND6RAMPA still have Y our TRteH, from say m ? / Your Opinion Counts The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its read ers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal con siderations and grammar. In order to be published, letters must contain the name, address and phone number o f the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville, On., L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any let ter. iBows+rr s p id e r m a n # i,, . ME 12 CENTS.