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p 4 tribune march 26 1997 st comment email address stouffvilletribune pressnetnet grade 3 testing advances reform policies there are several pivotal years in the educational development of a child somewhat more important than the others grades 3 7 and 11 are the con sidered by many to be the hardest years in school grade 7 is tough because this is when decisions regarding high school are made and is a considerable step into a more mature environment grade 11 is simply a quantum leap in academic difficulty over grade 10 and grade 3 is likely the most important of all it is the year when children are first streamed first evaluated and first seriously tested by grade 3 students must be compe tent readers writers and have strong math skills to succeed the province is about to find out just how effective teachers have been in this crucial year of development it should be noted that the grade 3 test ing which may begin any day by the way is designed to scare people the home test given this week is to re- emphasize what parents should be doing with their youngsters minds by this age the student tests are murderously difficult and this too if for a reason the government wants there to be a reasonable failure rate in order to have ammunition to enact further reforms the tests will prove there is a need for change and it is the teachers in the classroom who will be to blame from the early indications the testing of the provinces grade 3 children will lead to wholesale changes in the way our children are taught the bottom line is the gov ernment appears to be rush ing through these tests to push through more reforms and it will likely be another case of too much too fast 0l thats o a stouffville tribune 6244 main st stouffville ont l4a1e2 905 6402100 905 6492292 classified 905 6402874 fax 905 6405477 publisher patricia pappas general managereditor andrew mair editorinchief jo ann stevenson director of advertising debra weller retail manager mike rogerson classified manager stacey allen distribution manager barry j goodyear administration vivian oneil operations mgr pamela nichols questions news andrew mair editor joan ransbeny kathleen griffin mike adler reporters sjoerd witteveen steve somerville photographers julie caspersen copy editor retail advertising joan marshman catherine dunkeld classified bonnie rondeau real estate joan marshman distribution arlene maddock reception ruth le blanc the stouffville tribune published every wednesday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publish ing and distribution group of community newspapers which includes ajaxpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance brampton guardian burlington post cityparent collingwoodwaeaga con nection east york mirror etobicoke guardian george town independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week midlandpenetanguishene mirror markharn economist and sun milton canadian champi on mississauga news newmarketaurora erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakville beaver orillia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthornhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror todays seniors uxbridge tribune contents cannot be reprinted without written permission from the publisher rami gta in brief here today mega tomorrow heres what my crystal ball says today there will always be a an england but dont count on whitchurchstouffville or uxbridge being around forever in about 10 days the provin cial government will give birth to a megacity with the stroke of a pen bill 103 will be passed by the tory majority govern ment it means well say bye bye to the municipalities of toronto scarborough etobi coke york north york and east york and hello to toron to the big on jan 1 that said lets look at us before we stare into the eyes of whitchurchstouffville or uxbridge lefs go back to the mid 80s when the tories were enjoying about 40 years of non stop rule long before i felt my first menopauserelated hot flash i got hot under the collar about a new thing being called the greater toronto area this gta term started pop ping up soon it was being cap italized in print editors told reporters to upper case it to the greater toronto area and to call it gta on second mention i didnt like it but what the heck at the time i didnt like most editors or many tories at the time the law dictated that i couldnt murder editors the political climate was such that i figured the bluestriped boys and girls would get the boot the liberals would run the show and we wouldnt hear another word about this gta oan ransberry i was right about the change of command at queens park and dead wrong about the gta when the grits finally took over at queens park they embraced the gta in fact when it came to the gta and the liberals it was all hugs and kisses when the liberals were shown the exit three years later i figured the ruling new democrats would be around for a while and of course theyd put the kibosh on all gta thinking i was dead wrong today i see it this way it doesnt matter what partys in power the gta isnt going away in fact the gtas importance is escalating weve now hear ing lots about the gta ser vices board since the board is designed to serve 24 million people itll be mega in size have mega- power and will end up costing megamoney heres my call if something isnt done the gta services board will eventually swallow up many municipali ties including whitchurch- stouffville and uxbridge if the maker and shakers had a grain of sense a speck of courage and an ounce of will yorks nine municipalities would form the city of york while durhams eight munici palities would form the city of durham remember if we dont do it itll be done to us litle brothers can often be terrific role models in the xenophobes guide to the english anthony miall observes ttnlike their transat lantic cousins the english have an inherent distrust of success and look upon money with dis dain it is certainly true that unabashed success in the land of my birth is regarded with deep suspicion especially when it involves any form of selfpro motion i was reminded of this fact during discussions with my children about their future career options using myself as a role model would clearly not do so i gave deep thought to the example set by my younger brother whose experiences in the working world remain unparalleled by anyone of my acquaintance among the motley array of jobs he has held down are a short stint as a bank trainee youre a delightful chap but i dont think youre quite what were looking for nursing assistant in a hospital for the mentally handicapped a job he left hastily after an inmate lunged at him with a fork and clearly murderous intentions and woodsan he was a lum berjack but he wasnt okay so he left before they could cut him off in his prime he set a record for brevity at a cake factory 45 minutes after he clocked on he declared himself redundant because he couldnt keep up with the pro duction line something horri ble happened to a caseload of cakes as a result but hes still in denial and refuses to discuss it from these heady heights he applied to and was accepted by the post office starting off as a postman and rising up the hier archy like greased lightning until he reached the postal counter where he grudgingly sold stamps to the great unwashed he also played soccer for the spectacularly unsuccessful southampton post office team kates corner k g hid e rd ale and was involved for a time in a postal chess league until he discovered that the person he had been selected to play against had not replied to his challenge because he had been dead for several weeks my brothers forays into the world of commerce are mir rored by his skills in the home improvement department any shelf he puts up can be demol ished simply by placing an object upon it a framed photo or a small vase of flowers for example despite his slight shortcom ings in matters practical his gift for humorous repartee is second to none alas it pays not at all but it makes him a won derful companion and a joy to the family whenever we amble across the pond for a visit if we werent such a noncom petitive lot i would be jealous of his effortless wit what takes me a day to write comes to him spontaneously and with no apparent effort as it is i wish i could see and hear more of him if only to indulge in a spot of plagiarism to enhance my own writings this would bother him not at all but even if it did he couldnt afford a lawyer and being one in a long line of procrastinators he would find it hard to bestir himself long enough to take action as a longstanding employee of the post office he has never been known to heed his employ ers exhortations to post early for christmas and his tardi ness always results in a nice surprise among the bills when january rolls around he may not be bill gates but im glad hes my brother