The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

2 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 1, 1987 OPEN concern about edu (From page 1) few years. Former Board chairman and cur- rent trustee Ruth Lafarga noted the spring 1987 Liberal government budget promise which cited im- provements in education as a 'top priority' for Ontario. ) "Whatever party comes to power on September 10, we (OPEN) hope they pay more than just lip service to this promise,' said Mrs. Lafarga. She said that across Ontario this fall, there will be 75,000 students at- tending class in portables. School Boards this year asked the provin- cial government for $1 billion for capital building projects and receiv- ed $300 million. Mrs. Lafarga agreed that $300 million was an increase over the previous year's capital allocation, but "'it is not sufficient." Not only is there a shortage of money for new schools, but also for upgrading, renovating, repairing and expanding existing ones. Mrs. Lafarga noted that what the provincial government devotes for renovating schools this year is the equivalent of a homeowner spen- ding just $75 for upkeep on a $140,000 house. Brad Presley, a rep with the On- tario Secondary Teachers Associa- tion called Ontario's spending record for education an "embar- rassment" when compared to what other provinces are spending. He said that while Ontario has the highest per capita income of any province, it ranks well below several other provinces in per capita spending for public education. And he said that OPEN fears that eventually, the provincial govern- ment may extend funding to private and religious schools. Even on a very limited basis, he said, this would further hurt the public educa- tion system in the province. While none of the political parties has ad- vocated extension of funding to private or religious schools, he noted that the Shapiro report, prepared for the government, makes this recommendation. Another area of funding that has OPEN very concerned is a proposal where tax dollars from industrial and commercial assessment would be pooled by the provincial govern- ment and then re-allocated to School Boards. While this is not government policy now, it has been recommend- ed in the MacDonald Report and OPEN says such pooling would undermine the decision-making power and autonomy of local school boards, and it could shift even more of the burden for education costs on- to homeowners through property taxes. Sandra Lawson, current chair- NO. 1 SERGER IN NORTH AMERICA _ e uses all regular sewing machine needies e new Improved easy threading eo numbered tensions e recessed cutter e builtin light SUPERLOCK re, Daisy's J o NEW EXCLUSIVE Piping Foot attachment (opt. accessory) e Blind hemming and Elastic gathering with extra opt. feet NOW ONLY ... P6999. Special Price in effect until Saturday, October 30th, 1987 - SEE THE WHITE SUPERLOCK BEFORE YOU BUY AN OVERLOCK A super fast method of making your quilt is with the new White Superlock Serger. . Fabrics {formerly Modern Textiles 985-3221 located In Luke's Country Store 201 (Iueen Street - Port Perry man of the Durham Board of Educa- tion said that when school opens In September in Durham, there will be 322 portables in use here. That's 66 more than last year. She noted that even when capital grants are made available for new schools, they often open with por tables on the site because the pro- vincial guidelines work on a 35 stu- dent per classroom basis. "That number is totally unrealistic. In actual fact, class sizes are much smaller,' said Mrs. Lawson. She also said the Ministry guidelines for classroom size (700 square feet) are unrealistic because some rooms for things like art and music have to be much larger. She suggested that new schools are too small even before they open the doors. As far as provincial grants for the day-to-day operation of school boards, figures cited by OPEN show they have declined steadily since 1974, and this has meant more of a burden on property taxes for homeowners. The provincial share of school board operating budgets will decline to 42.7 per cent this year, compared with nearly 60 per cent in 1975. In Durham Region, the 1987 budget is $212 million, with the pro- vincial share set at $97 million. Almost all the rest comes from pro- perty taxes. The Ontario Public Education Network was formed in the spring of this year. It has 80,000 members, cation spending made up of trustees and teachers from 80 school boards across the province. The organization wants operating funds from the provincial goverp- ment restored to the 60 per cent level, more money for capital pro- jects and renovations. It is strong- ly opposed to any move to pool tax revenue from commercial and ip- dustrial assessment and it is against public funding of private schools. Thieves get a hot tub Durham Police say a large home on Concession 13, Scugog Island was hit by thieves during the night of August 26. IF YOUR AD WAS HERE ... over 12.000 people could have read it this week! That's alot of potential customers for your business. Advertising made easy -- find out more about it! CALL 985-7383 for INFORMATION The home, still under constrye.- tion, was robbed of a hot tub with brass fittings valued at $3,000 and a new washer and dryer, valued at about $1,000. LOOK, LISTEN... AGAIN. SCHOOL"S OPEN 10 VANEDWARD D STOP RIVE, PORT PERRY - 985-8474 TS Community since 1976." : TTI ™