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2 Friday, January 24, 2020 brooklintowncrier.com In a recent National Post commentary, Conrad Black, whom one can never say is on the fence on any topic, waxed eloquent, as he's wont to do, "The renewed agitation by teachers in Ontario," he wrote, "highlights the debacle of the whole public teaching and school administration apparatus that is possibly the greatest and most universal public policy failing in modern Western civilization." That might be a bit of an overstatement from the same fellow who also said the students are hostages thanks to "unctuous pieties" from the unions. The best part of that was the use of unctuous, a word one rarely sees anywhere. He touched on a few interesting points, none of which are rooted in real life. To cherry pick two key issues in this turmoil, class size does matter. And yes, there's a problem when teachers or educational assistants (EAs) need to wear long sleeve Kevlar shirts while classrooms are evacuated because of a special needs child's actions. Leaving early A former colleague took early retirement two years ago when a senior high school student, unprovoked, attacked and injured him. Yet another did the same a couple of years before that. His crime? He yanked a basketball out of the hands of a high schooler who ignored his repeated requests (okay, orders) to stop playing in the hallway outside his classroom. The parent went goofy. "Imagine the nerve, telling our boy off and then attacking him!" Or somesuch. Admin grew chicken feathers and laid an egg. The teacher departed the profession. Let's now tackle class size. I have a four year old granddaughter in a JK class of 27. Argue another time about the worth of full time JK. But if we're going to have it, 27!? One fellow I know who teaches high school knows of a senior physics class with 38. Kindly stay clear of me with aimless and exaggerated arguments about teacher time off, salaries and sick days. Instead, invest your energy in a classroom and witness first hand the challenges of dealing with two full hockey teams in one room, an analogy most people can cotton to. About size matters In my career, I swung from the ridiculous to the sublime and back again, from huge public school rooms to small class private schools to nearly unmanageable numbers in portables and back to adult education which was as close to the ideal teaching environment I ever had. The fact is, more students experienced success in smaller classes more often. It was rare to see someone fall to the wayside when I could get to everyone in a class two or three times in a 75-minute period. Once numbers hit the mid 20s, it was pick and choose. Sorry ma'am, I'll get to your daughter's essay issues on Wednesday. There are too many others worse off. As for those signs blaring, "Cuts hurts kids!", well, they'll hurt us adults some day, too. If you are the parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, cousin or neighbour of a school-aged child, if you believe these youths will one day be your care workers, doctors, cops, or mechanics, then the pillaging by the Ford government is cause for consternation. When Brooklin teachers walk the picket lines, I plan to be there with coffee and whatever else I can provide them to make the entire experience less miserable. It's the least I can do. Teaching, to me, wasn't what I did. It's what I was - and am. The teachers I know in these parts are much the same, colossal salaries and perks notwithstanding. I stand with them! Much more than half the picture: By Richard Bercuson "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: 905.655.7642 Email: brooklintowncrier@gmail.com Next Issue: Friday, February 7, 2020 Deadline: Friday, January 31, 2020 Looking back at 20 years of BTC Do you have a favourite Brooklin Town Crier memory? Drop us a line at editorofbtc@gmail.com and we will search our archives! Far left: the first Brooklin Town Crier with an aerial shot of Brooklin from September 2000. (right) Below left: the inside of the first edition with many businesses no longer presesnt in Brooklin. Below: the first 2001 edition with a profile of Group 74.