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6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 14, 2009 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager A lesson in diplomacy Redrawing school boundaries and transferring students are highly-emotional issues, which are bound to leave at least one group upset or disappointed. We don't envy the Halton District School Board in trying to reach a decision on the accommodation problems in elementary schools in Ward 4. However, it takes a certain skill in diplomacy to ensure that at least everyone involved receives a fair chance to express their viewpoint. That way, they may go away disappointed, but with any luck, they may not wind up bitter over the final decision. Unfortunately, we feel the public school trustees dropped the ball last Wednesday night, when they adjourned the school board meeting early due to another issue, which monopolized most of the time. In doing so, the public did not get a chance to hear Education Director Wayne Joudrie's rationale behind a staff recommendation to solve the accommodation issue by establishing one single-track French immersion school, two dual-track schools and five single-track English schools in Ward 4. As a result, Joudrie will make his presentation to the school trustees tomorrow night. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be a problem, except that the parent delegations -- 27 of them -- are speaking on the issue tonight. We think some of them might have appreciated hearing an explanation for the staff choice before arguing their viewpoints this evening. When contacted by the Oakville Beaver, the education director declined to comment on the staff recommendation. He preferred to share his comments with the trustees first. Under the circumstances, we think Joudrie would have welcomed a chance to share his views with the parents who are going to be making presentations on the staff recommendation tonight. Who knows, some of them may have even dropped their objections after hearing his explanation. Rather than scheduling Joudrie's rationale after the public delegations, every effort should have been made to present this prior to the meeting tonight. Instead, the board has left the impression the trustees are more important than the parents. That's a mistake, which could come back to haunt the board. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Board not heeding Rabbi says Israel has the right to defend itself parents' requests Re: Ward 4 parents have lots to say, Oakville Beaver, Jan. 9 Thank you very much for the balanced coverage The Oakville Beaver presented on the Ward 4 French Immersion Accommodation Issue. As an Ecole Forest Trail parent, I am very concerned about the Director's Report. Should this change be accepted by Halton District School Board trustees, my child and many other children who will be facing their fourth school change in five years. With the board's recommendation for future boundary studies, it is possible that my son will attend more schools before he gets out of Grade 8 than I have with two university degrees. During the Ward 4 consultation process, the public and school councils were asked for their feedback. The results were categorical: parents, no matter which school their child attended, ranked quality of program, a culture for learning and achievement and staff specialists as the most important learning factors. Comparably, walk to school, the absence of portables and the school as a community resource were ranked much lower. See Ward page 7 While many of us had a two-week vacation, Israelis living in the southern parts of Israel have not had a vacation for the past three years. Did you know that each day for the past three years, dozens of missiles are launched by Hamas terrorists into Israel indiscriminately, aiming to kill as many civilians as possible? How much warning does an Israeli living in the Town of Sderot get? When the air-raid siren goes off, they have 30 seconds to find a bomb shelter. Just last week, a bomb landed in a Grade 9 classroom, spreading shrapnel throughout the room shattering 40 desks. Luckily school was not in session or there would have been 40 funerals that day. Israel's response of turning the other cheek finally ended Dec. 27 when they launched a mission to find those responsible for launching the missiles, destroy them and the stockpiles of rockets and bring peace to the region. Israel only wants peace, in fact there is a mantra in the Israeli Defense Forces, its called "We shoot and we cry." We have never wanted anything other than to live in peace, but in the real world there is an organization called Hamas -- democratically voted into power by the Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip -- whose openly-declared mission is to destroy the State of Israel. Israel has no choice but to defend itself, despite knowing that there will be civilian casualties among our enemies. As Hamas fires from among civilian areas and houses bombs in mosques, schools and apartment buildings, the suffering of civilians is heart-wrenching, but inevitable. Along with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff, and Oakville MP Terence Young, there is a lot of support for Israel to defend itself, until a peace agreement can be reached where Hamas pledges to stop bombing Israel. At that point Israel will withdraw. Israel already demonstrated it will give land for peace, by withdrawing all troops from Gaza in the summer of 2005. All we want is Shalom, all we're asking from Hamas and its Palestinian supporters is to give peace a chance. RABBI STEPHEN WISE SHAAREI-BETH EL SYNAGOGUE This week's poll This week's question is: Do you feel probation and parole officers are justified in seeking a wage increase on par with that of Ontario Provincial Police officers ? · Yes · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: Do you think the Town of Oakville should be ticketing cars parked overnight in downtown Oakville? · Yes 44.64% · No 55.36% Total votes: 56 votes The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981.Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.