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8 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday May 14,1999 PC candidate says governm ent com m itted to better education By G ary C a rr PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE In today's world, a top-qual­ ity education is not a luxury - it's an absolute necessity. We have to make sure our education system gives students the skills and knowledge they will need to lead fulfilling lives and to com­ pete and win in a global econo­ core subjects, tied to the new c u r ­ riculum for every grade -E stab lish 'Aiming for the Top' sch o la rsh ip s for students - E x p a n d G A R Y C A R R the number of college courses with direct job links and do the same with universities -Measure the placement results for graduates of all col­ lege and university pro­ grams -Introduce the Millenium Fund for Students, which will be the largest assistance pro­ gram in Ontario's history In the weeks leading up to the June 3rd provincial election, the Oakville Beaver will be running view­ points by the Oakville riding candidates on current issues...today they respond to EDUCATION my. We have: -Introduced standardized tests and report cards for Ontario's schools -Introduced a more demand­ ing curriculum -Increased the time teachers spend in the classroom -Limited average class sizes (25 in primary, 22 in secondary schools) -Committed $650 million to renew and build schools, $100 million for new textboks and materials, arid $12 million to update school labs and equip­ ment -Cut the number of school boards and school politicians, putting the savings into class­ room education -Updated apprenticeship law for the first time in 35 years Gary Carr is committed to: -Keeping Oakville's schools open -Require all Ontario teachers to participate in a testing pro­ gram to stay up to date -We will commit that every willing and qualified Ontario student will continue to be able to attend college or university -Charter of Education Rights and Responsibility -Classroom funding will be guaranteed to increase to match rising enrollment -Make teaching of respect and responsibility mandatory in our schools -Entrench in legislation the requirement that schools make the singing of O Canada, part of each student's day -Introduce a province-wide code of conduct for students that will set clear minimum standards for behaviour and spell out the conse­ quences for breaking rules -Give teachers the right to maintain order in classrooms so they can concentrate on the job of teaching -Give teachers the authority to enforce the code of conduct -Give Vice Principals and Principals the right to expel stu­ dents -Introduce a zero tolerance policy for bad behaviour -Establish strict discipline schooling programs for students who have been expelled from regular classes -Require schools to promote only those students with accept­ able levels of achievement -Introduce student tests on Confidence in education must be restored says Liberal By K evin Flynn L IB E R A L PARTY C AND ID ATE It is time to restore the public's confidence in our school system. Ontario has historically had one of the finest educational systems in the World. However, we must begin to realize that investing in our children's education is not only a social responsibility, it is an economic necessity. Parents want to be assured that their children are acquiring the skills that will provide them with the opportu­ nity to succeed in a modem economy. We have parents and teachers in this province who are genuinely committed to ensuring that the children of this province have the best education possible. There is no opposition from any group to improving the cur­ rent system. However, there has been strong opposition to the Harris Agenda of cutting funding to public education. Mr. Harris has forgot­ ten the simple fact that education is about people. If you degrade and bash teachers then you will have a demoralized work force. If you cut funding for Junior Kindergarten, Adult Education and English as a Second Language Programs then you deny people opportunities. Take a moment and look at the Harris record on education. He has cut $1-billion from schools after promising not to take a cent out of the classroom. Students and parents have been hit with user fees and many students who are unable to pay are excluded from activities. The truth is that Ontario has fallen to 55th out of 63 in the latest North American education spending survey. This is simply unaccept­ able. Take a walk around your neighbourhood school and you will see the impact that the Harris cuts have had. You work hard, you pay taxes and your children are entitled to a quality education system! How many of us would enjoy the quality of life we have today if our parents had to be wealthy enough to afford tuition for private school. The Liberal Party and myself are committed to: Ensuring our schools have the resources they need by investing in public education. Work in partnership with teachers and recognize they are profes­ sionals who are knowledgeable about our school system and genuinely concerned about the welfare of our children. Modernize our schools. We will provide 22,000 new computers to classrooms during each year of our mandate. This means every school will receive five new computers each and every year. Keep our schools open in our communities and scrap the Harris funding formula that threatened Queen Elizabeth Park High School, Eastview Public School, Oakwood Public School amongst others. Immediately cut tuition fees by 10 per cent for universities and col­ leges. The education of our children is the most important investment we can make. College & university students deserve break-NDP By S ean C ain N E W DEMOCRATIC PARTY Over the past four years the Harris Conservatives have made a mockery of public education in Ontario. Over $ 1.2-billion in cut­ backs have been dumped on grade schools, high schools, colleges and universities, creating a crisis in education never before seen in Ontario history. The Tories have fired thousands of teachers and important staff, raised tuition fees to unprece­ dented levels, cut pro­ grams for troubled youth and those with disabilities, and have rammed bills through the legislature that takes power and decision­ making away from local communities, parents, stu­ dents and teachers and puts them into the hands of the Premier's Office. The result has been larger and larger class sizes, poorer quality education, massive student debt, less meaningful democratic participation within the system, and the destruction of after school problems such as sports, theatre and music - all so that Mike Harris can give a tax cut that mostly benefits the wealthy. I can personally remember when I was in grade school not long ago when students would go door-to-door to raise funds for the homeless or the Cancer Society. In today's Ontario, however, there are actually cases of students having to go door-to-door to raise their own money just for textbooks and other basic educational necessities. But there is an alternative to this mess. The NDP, and only the NDP, will fully repeal Bill 160 and put decision-making power back where it belongs - local communities. The NDP will also re-invest $360 million to keep Junior Kindergarten, Early Childhood Education, pro­ grams for disabled youth open, as well as hiring more teachers and staff to reduce class sizes in grade schools and high schools. The NDP is also going to put $ 180-million into post-secondary education and cut tuition fees for college and university by 10%, as well as putting on a freeze so they won't ever rise again. Tuition has increased an incredible 60% under the Harris government and the average university graduate now has a debt load of over $25,000. It's time to give them a break. Although the Liberals may complain about the Harris cutbacks and may talk about putting more money back into education, they have not yet illustrated how they are going to pay for it. Only the NDP has clearly stated where we are going to get the money to re-invest back into our schools: the Harris tax cut is going to be cancelled for the richest 6% of income earners (who receive an incredible 25% of the tax cut) and this extra $ 1.5 billion in revenue is going to be put back into social programs where it can do the most good for the most people ($540 million of this will be specifically for education), all without raising the debt by a single cent. F C P w a n t s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n c o s t s r e d u c e d By A drian R ate lle FAM ILY C O A LIT IO N PARTY I The Family Coalition Party believes that the greatest natural resource that we have in Ontario is our young people. It follows that we give their education the priority that it deserves. Some of us are aware that in many areas south of the border, most families that can afford to, send their children to private schools. This deci­ sion, backed by dollars, is a powerful indictment of a public system that has, in an attempt to be "politically correct", bowed to pressure from vocal minorities to remove prayer, any references to God, or attempts at moral guidance from the curriculum. The results of this "cleaning up" of the curriculum are nothing to be proud of, and all too often are disastrous. Rather than force any particular set of beliefs on the whole system, the FCP believes that par­ ents deserve choice in the education of their chil­ dren. The Child Education Cheque will give par­ ents the power to choose whatever type of school they feel is best for the child, or home schooling, with private schools being free to charge more than die fixed Cheque (or "voucher") amount if they wish. When the family has the freedom to take that Child Education Cheque to any school they like, good schools will have their methods and cultures vindicated, and will serve as models, and under-performing schools will be forced to change or risk being eco­ nomically unviable. As well, since about half of the budget of the public school boards is spent on administration, versus 10% in private schools, it ADRIAN RATELLE should be obvious that there are economies to be found without further negative effects on the classroom. Dollars aside, I believe that both parents and professional educators should shoulder the task of developing the whole person. One of the wisest men of our time opined that the educated person was not one whose head was crammed with gen­ eral or specialized knowledge, but that person who has so developed their higher faculties that they can obtain anything they want from the world, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others. Those faculties are Reason, Memory, Perception, Will, Intuition, and Imagination. If we develop these skills in our children within the framework of a value system, Ontario's educational system can once again be something to be proud of.