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

The Canadian Charmpion, Tuesday, October 7, 1997 - 3 School reform meeting aimed at parents, kids Parents and students will hear from both sides of the education reform battle this Thursday (Oct. 9) at E.C. Drury. The high school's parent-community advisory council has organized an infor- mation session from 7 to 9 p.m. in the auditorium. Scheduled to speak in support of Bill 160 are Halton North MPP Ted Chudleigh and Bruce Smith, parliamentary assistant to Education Minister John Snobelen. Offering opposition to changes will be AI Tanner, Halton chapter president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation. The meeting is open to parents and stu- dents from across Halton. "We'd like separate school parents and students to know they're invited too. We don't need any parents feeling any more alienated than they already have been," stressed Liz Munro, vice chair of E.C. Drury's parent council. Ms Munro said the meeting will provide parents with a platform to air their con- cens as well as a chance to hear all the facts surrounding proposed education changes. Mr. Chudleigh encourages as many par- ents as possible to attend the meeting, adding they are the "referees" in the Bill 160 showdown. Sign waving, marching and unified chants were the order of the afternoon Friday, when hun- dreds of teachers picketed Halton North MPP Ted Chudleigh's Main Street office in opposition to Bill 160. Teachers putting their feet down • from NO on page 1 an illegal strike. "For your own self pride, you have to react to being abused verbally. This is an indication of the level of frustration and anger teachers have over the disman- tling of the education system and the government's disdain for it," Mr. Tanner said of a possible walkout. The OTF has stated all teachers may be asked to walk off the job anytime between the current second reading of proposed education legislation, Bill 160, and before the end of imminent public hearings on the matter. Teachers are most upset by government statements that Queen's Park may remove up to half of secondary teachers' planning time, possibly hire non-certified teachers for some instructing positions and take over the right to set class sizes. Among the information recently released by the OTF to its mobilized affiliates was a question and answer section designed to provide responses to typi- cal concerns of teachers should they walk out, an action the union bulletin terms a "political protest". The OTF briefing tells teachers they can expect no strike pay because "Ihis is not a collective bargaining dispute." As for insured benefits, teachers are being told, "Attempts will be made with each school board to ensure continuous coverage", with arrangements to be made with alternative carriers if necessary. On the subject of disciplinary action, the OTF told its union affiliates that should school boards, as the employer, take such steps, the "resources of the feder- ations will be used to defend members." If the govermment should introduce legislation to impose fines or other forms of discipline the federa- tions will again defend its members, said the OTF. The OTF noted it feels the "political protest action would appear to be outside of the disciplinary, profes- sional jurisdiction of the Ontario College of Teachers." The OTF's legal action plan is currently under way. Local teachers' associations are being advised to write letters and send faxes to the Minister of Education and to Conservative MPPs. As for Halton's several thousand public and Catholic secondary and elementary teachers, they picketed the region's four Tory MPP offices between 4 and 5 p.m. Friday. Several hundred walked Milton's Main Street in front of Ted Chudleigh's office, chanti- ng. A teachers' rally and information meeting was scheduled for all Halton, Hamilton and Wentworth union affiliates on Tuesday (Oct. 7) at Copps Coliseum. -1