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Emtot.beJum ‘s knowledgeable , I was curious how isly uninterested in d ready to enlighten bank about why Mr. ding the issue, I was cillor. Having never regarding this perâ€" Council councillor‘s inel where I lived, I not appear in their with the name of a Hoddle was my city r reached Susan Forâ€" agreed to research ite interesting. Perâ€" e of our immediate June 14th, briefly sted his advice. Mr. atter was a regional a city councillor. I y request, was proâ€" of Regional Council e Cullen should MoSuIm ‘a regional councilâ€" my city councilior, t interests in the world of city poliâ€" ever is settled, I 3 room will score higher on a standardized test, but it does not prove that they have learned anything. The university courses I learn the most in, I often get the worst grades in. After all, I‘m questioning and hypothesizing and making mistakes as I learn. Unfortunately, none of this is meaâ€" sured by a multiple choice exam. 3. Fred Sage! wrote an interesting piece about two law students who interrupted their standardized law exam to help a stuâ€" dent having a seizure. They were not allowed to make up the time spent on their humanitarian effort. This exam probably weeded out the best two lawyers in the class. I could go on, but might I suggest, that instead of taking the easy road and just jumping on the bandwagon of ignorance, people should actually do some research on standardized tests. Destreaming is an excellent idea. It has worked great in primary and junior grades. Most students who drop out of school drop out of basic level courses. Unfortunately, with standardized testing, students performâ€" ing poorly on these tests will be weeded out of the system so as not to mess up the test scores. The system would become further segregated. What is teacher competency? Do I get to pick my class? The socioâ€"economic area of the school I teach in? You do not need a standardized test to tell you how good a school is, just look at the neighborhood in which it is located. Teaching can already be a cutthroat profession. Have you ever told someone how to raise their kids? I‘m fortuâ€" nate to be with a cooperative staff where teachers freely share ideas and resources. I Needs Reform, may I state that the only problem with our educational system is too much reform. In 1990â€"1991, we were handed the Formative Years Working Paper. In 1991â€"1992, we started Bénchmarks and Destreaming. In 1992â€"1993, we were given the Common Curriculum; it is currently in the process of being rewritten. The NDP is now forming Royal Commission on educaâ€" tion. Business management author Spencer Johnson states, "most companies fail poorly at school. A test isn‘t going to change that. Standardized testing will turn teaching into a hockey draft. "If I have to take the Smith kid, then I want the Jones kid too." 2. There was an excellent letter in the Kâ€" W Record written by an Asian student who told how all his Asian schooling trained him for was the writing of standardized tests. because they spend their energy searching for the next solution, rather than making the system they have work." You say our system would benefit from standardized testing. Why? All a standardâ€" ized test measures is a person‘s ability to write a standardized test. I would just love to see Fred Sage!l or Parents for Learning actually tell us how standardized tests could help the system. I will tell you some basic reasons why they will not. 1. Standardized tests will not make anyâ€" one accountable. I am accountable to parâ€" ents who are interested in their children. I am not God. Parents who are not interested in their children, have children who do Students taught in a teacher directed classâ€" testing won‘t help In reply to John Foster‘s letter, System LOOK FOR SALE PRICES ON EVERYTHING STOREWIDE Since 1899 might not be so quick to share my work, if someone else is going to be rewarded. Ironiâ€" â€"cally, the best teachers may not be the most popular with administration, coâ€"workers, parents and students. We crucified the best teacher of all time. I was a student who fell through the cracks of our education system back in the 1970s. I now teach because I do not want whthlmdbmowhmwanym student. The literacy rate of children graduâ€" ating school is higher than it has ever been. The children I teach are polite, racially tolerâ€" ant and very intelligent. If all you underâ€" stand about education is the misinformation 16th column in which he described the recent federal Progressive Conservative conâ€" vention as "More sizzle than steak" and lamented the fact the conventions were not "serious forums to elect leaders." I attended the recent convention as an observer (my husband was a delegate) and have a different view. Before I explain though, I should clarify my political backâ€" ground. Much to my husband‘s chagrin, I prefer to remain politically independent and I have voted across the spectrum. In other words, our home is host to many interesting you read in the paper, come and support your local school. We are accountable to the people who want to know. _ _ _ _ I am fed up with the whining that I keep hearing from the people who earn their livâ€" ing in the public sector. I keep reading the letters from the school teachers who, I believe, think that life owes them a living. They keep saying that their conditions are so hard and so difficult. They want understanding, they keep saying. They also want lots of money, benefits and job security that no single person in today‘s economy could ever guarantee. I would love to see any one school teacher exchange places with an independent busiâ€" ness person. That school teacher would have to put up his or her own money, worry about debt and the bank, work endlessly with no guarantee of any return. Bankruptcy always looms on the horizon; work is endless. There is no pension plan, let alone an indexed one. Why are all these people complaining? Teachers, when you get right down to it have it soft. Three month‘s holidays, no need to put up your own money, no risk of failure, big, fat pension plans. I wish life were so simple for the rest of us who pay for all of this. As a society, I think we have rocks in our head to put up with this. How did we ever get into a situation where public sector people, especially teachers, are so pampered and the rest of us live on the edge? I‘m probably going to have to work for the rest of my life. There will be no pension plan for me, except what I save. Every penny has to be earned by hard work. I‘m lucky to get two week‘s holiday each year. Please don‘t let me hear another word from the overprivileged and spoiled public Sagel‘s column lacked substance Fed up with the whining I would like to reply to Fred Sagel‘s June MON.â€".WED. 10 A.M.â€"6 P.M. & we cokhiinmer S l _ AND SETâ€"UP THURS. & FRIL 10 A.M.9 P.M. _ y "*"*""m%z V | IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE SATURDAY 10 h o 4e "4a, o ,,/ 1434151 @@®*" 55e John Matheson usually did not finish until 1 or 2 a.m. No lunch. No dinner. No time or energy for "booze sessions". Of the people I met, very few had ulterior motives. There is nothing stopping any one of us from doing the same (if we are dedicated enough to do so) or from jumping into those trenches and trying to change the actual system. Partâ€"time journalâ€" As for the "more sizzle than steak" comâ€" ment â€" why is it important to mention that it is a graduate course Mr. Sage! attends (and exactly which professor teaches it) and which local celebrity‘s party he attended and that he has a string of European profesâ€" sional friends? The column itself displays a certain amount of style without substance. I can‘t believe that such political sizzle is a new concept to a student of political science. Most of us accept and recognize advertising when we see it. Those who care to, probe beneath it to the true product. We read, we discuss, we think, we choose. And yes, the leader is accountable to the delegates. Just try the delegates‘ patience a the next convention, the next election, or at any point in between (ie. leadership reviews) and see how quickly that accountability can end a political career. Ask Joe Clark. I also might have been more convinced of Mr. Sagel‘s criticisms if he had carefully outâ€" lined some original arguments that he had researched and thought about. Instead, he spent a sentence or two describing someâ€" area, it mystifies me how anyone willing to invest in the purchase of an expensive item such as a house WOULD NOT consider the environmental impact of the dump. Seven hundred and fifty metres is not a long way. When I looked at some new homes (it was to debates about PC policy. I tried to be a nonâ€" whatever your political stripe â€" the people Te wers dnieguiee and vokitreer ers a this convention (and I am sure, also at NDP and Liberal conventions) worked very, June weekend "munching on hamburgers and drinking beer" (as Mr. Sagel reported he did) because they were committed to having their political voices heard. They were up at dawn to attend 7 a.m. policy sessions and I am aware that writing a weekly column, when you have other important tasks at hand, such a practicing law, is difficult. But when many, man people read your thoughts, you must be responsible with power â€" in politics and also in journalism. This letter is in reference to the article by Tom Brockelbank and the letter to the editor by Lynda Cullen in the June 16, 1993 ediâ€" tion of your paper. I sympathize with Mrs. Cullen‘s problem but as a person who recently investigated purchasing a house in the Baker Street paid their own way, gave up a beautiful thing his professor had just lectured directly to him. That‘s not "unconventional", as the column‘s headline read, that‘s lipâ€"synching. Where is the substance in Mr. Sage!‘s arguâ€" ment? Remember that he sought this subâ€" stance in the candidate‘s speeches and in fact, criticized them for (in his eyes) omitting it? Mystifying decision What I can honestly say to Mr. Sage! is â€" |* quauty a &200 CA * ... y | FREE DELIVERY NA l IN TNE GOLDEN TRIAIGL L FREE PARKING WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1993 â€" PAGE 7 Wendy Hicks be my first home too) in this area, the dump was a major consideration in my decision not to buy in that area. Buying a house in this area is identical to purchasing a house by a busy airport and then "discovering" that there is a noise problem. ‘The residents that lived in the West Hill area before 1984 deserve some compensaâ€" But, they as homeowners are partially responsible for their predicament. Monitorâ€" ing the issues that pertain to the dump and its expansion falls to the people responsible for the municipal and regional government â€" the taxpayer. Too often in our country, citizens place blame on the people that they elect or are appointed on their behalf. We as members of the City of Waterloo community must take a proactive posture towards the issues that affect our lives while at the same tic expectations towards these issues I think that in the final analysis, the onus to discover these types of problems falls to the purchaser. At the same time, the realâ€" tors and builders have a responsibility to at the very least, recommend strongly the addiâ€" tion of airâ€"conditioning systems in any new homes purchased in the Baker Street area and the reasons for doing so. I hope that the Cullens consider the impact of any environâ€" mental issues during their next house purâ€" chase. As most firstâ€"time purchasers of a house soon discover, they must temper their dreams with the reality and consequences in which their actions will result. It ist fair to compensate homeowners that have lived in the neighborhood prior to the environmental air degradation with air conâ€" ditioning. My own air in Waterloo‘s core area is being degraded by dust and dirt from high rise construction ... 1 want air condiâ€" tioning too. A realistic plan to the dilemma is to raise property taxes by 40 per cent for 4.5 years only to homeowners that want cenâ€" tral air, then we can all breathe a sigh of relief and thank goodness that we don‘t live in downtown Toronto Buyer must be wary The debate for a sweeter smelling landfill site is gaining momentum. I do not beheve that purchasing a home near a landfill site is a wise idea. Perhaps as bright as buying a home in a crack cocaine district After all, if you are going to spend $100,000 plus, wouldn‘t a drive around the block to check the neighborhood be a smart move? "Gee, honey, that‘s a funny place for a The Waterloo Chronicle welâ€" comes letters to the editor. They should be signed with name, _address and phone number and will be verified for accuracy. No unsigned letters will be published and the Chronicle reserves the right to edit. Letters policy Waterloo