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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19,1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS blished every Wednesday1 whitby oice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. i I v PO. Bo 06 htbOn. Rgitto o.55 MICHAEL KNELL Community Editor VALERIE COWEN Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 Contract negotiations ignoring taxpayers' needs Last week, two very disturbing press conferen- ces were held - one by the Durham Elementary Teachers' Association (D.E.T.A.) and the other by the Durham Board of Educatilon. While the conferences brought out some useful A weet@ news oommentry trona one of Canada's outilanding news »esuonliies oF ....w T. There has been a row.going on in Britain about the BBC's decision to broadcast pictures of the Trade Secretary, Norman Tebbit, moaning with pain as he was hauled from the wreckage of the Grand Hotel in Brighton. MP's, newspaper colum- nists, and members of the public have criticized the BBC's insensitivity in splashing Mr. Tebbit's moments of agony ail over its evening newscast. The row ended in a rather dramatic fashion when Mr. Tebbit himself wrote a letter to The Times defending the BBC's decicion to use the pictures. The Trade Secretary said that although he was opposed to graphic coverage of the suf- fering of disaster victims, the IRA bomb attack on the Grand Hotel was no accident. "It was murder and attempted murder," he wrote The Times. The logic of Mr. Tebbit's decision to draw the line between an accident and a deliberate act escapes me, since he seems to be suggesting that in this case, there Is some kind of lesson to be learned from his suffering. Namely, I suppose, that the IRA is a bad bunch and shouldn't be un- derestimated. But It seems to me that if you use the same criteria, there are cases when it might also be in- structive to depict the suffering of a truck driver pinned in the wreckage of his cab, for example. You would thereby remind the public that trucks and cars are lethal instruments and that they should be treated with great care and caution. I realize that this argument coming from someone who makes his living in news is suspect. Maybe, but I have believed for years that by and large, the average editor or reporter is much more sensitive to this sort of thing than the general public. And thanks to a coloumn in a recent Ot- tawa Citizen, by publisher Paddy Sherman, I now have something ressembling evidence. According to Mr. Sherman, a newspaper in Nor- th Carolina has done an interesting study on ethics. In it, the newspaper put some hypothetical cases before readers for decisions on whether or not to publish. Then it put the same cases before its editors, and comapred attitudes. l'Il cite just one of them to make a point. Suppose the mayor is a hard-liner on crime, especially on drugs. His 19-year-old son who lives at home, and attends college, is busted for the possession of marijuana. Do you publish the story or don't you? Fully 58 per cent of the editors said that they wduld not publish it, but only 39 per cent of the readers turned thumbs down on the story. By and large, the readers were much more open to publishing dublous stories than the editors were. As I have said before, in a good newsroom, the Inhabitants are feroclous worriers. And we're more likely tb err on the side of caution than the information it has become abundantly clear - despite assurances from both sides to7 the con- trary - that relations between management and labor in our local school system are not that good. It is clear that the issue of salaries will not be satisfactorily resolved this year considering that in terms of money alone the board has offered its elementary teachers 1.5 per cent while they have demanded seven per cent. (The total wage and benefit package offered by the board comes to about 4.8 per cent this year). At the same time, teachers represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (O.S.S.T.F.) have been offered a two per cent salary hike by the board. The first question this newspaper has to ask is why does the board treat its elementary and secondary teachers' differently? Especially when we remember that until two or three years ago both groups enjoyed the same salary and benefits levels. It does not appear to us to be at all fair that both groups are treated differently when teachers in ail levels have to have essentially the same academic qualifications and years of experience. in his report, fact finder Dr. Harold Jakes said that the board has not demonstrated that "inability to pay" was an issue. In fact, Jakes said that the board was financially sound and able to pay more than it was offering. This newspaper would like to point out that the board's financially sound position was built on the backs of the taxpayers of this region. On page 1 of today's edition we have reported that during the years 1978 to 1983 the boards of education have increased their demands on the taxpayers of Whitby by 127½ per cent. Their levy against Whit- by residents has increased from $4,874,000 to $11,992,000 during that f ive year period. That tran- slates into property tax increases during those five years of 65.7 per cent for the average Whitby resident. By comparison, the Town of Whifby has only in- creased its property taxes by 32.5 per cent during the samé period, Region of Durham tax demands have risen 49 per cent. Neither the board of education nor the teachers' addressed the issue the impact their negotiations will have on the taxpayer of this region. The provincial government has been reducing its fun- ding of local education over the past few years, so instead of realigning its fiscal policy accordingly, the board has simply passed the burden onto the taxpayer. We would like to point out that teachers are public servants. Other public servants working for other levels of local government have negotiated contracts within the five per cent guidelines set down by the province. Frankly, we see no reason why the teachers should be any different. When elementary teachers are earning between $20,000 and $41,000 a year, one could not call them drastically under- paid. Granted, the teachers have a right to earn a fair and equitable salary. They must be recognized for work done both in and out of the classroom. The board and the taxpayer must also recognize that teachers are forced to deal with ever bigger classes and ever increasing demands for quality education. From the public statements that have been made, this newspaper can only conclude that neither side has really addressed the issues. When asked about the more sensitive and impor- tant issues both declined comment hiding under the old cliche of "we're still talking about it." But the point is those sensitive issues are the ones that should be talked about fully and openly. After ail, the taxpayer is the one who is going to pay for it in the end. It would seem only fair that the tax- payer be told what's going on. AND FOR YOW 0 MARCEL #MY BOY, TA£ ELVE5 HAVE MAPE A SPFECIAL NEW .£ECogl> C ALLE',m ONEME À<L by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Ine. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. 1 F. ý