Halton gave us the Balanced School Day and see many of their admin. and educators sucked up into the echelons of 99 Bay St.

I do also believe that it was a trustee from Halton who was very outspoken years before her time re: education reform.

It is good to see it, and Oakville would be a natural to form a coalition of parents seeking a better educational system and a political system that serves all of the people they are being paid by. I have always like the Oakville community, but than again I am a wee bit bias when it comes to GTA and their communities.

This coalition is almost like watching a parents groups in the United States. It is time to end the spin that is being emitted at all levels of the education system, especially the kind that states that parents are happy with the current system. All one has to do, is scratch the surface to see anger seething on wait lists, taking away from one group and give to another group, pitting one parent against another, limited access to education services and the list goes on. It should be spreading to the other GTA communities, and which one will be next?  Perhaps the York region or the Mississauga area? 

What is really surprising the few comments that do agree with the Halton’s board decisions. They are defending a practice of inequality and two-tiered education for children, which is what the Oakville parents are fed up with in the first place. It is the practices of the boards that has hinder their children’s progress in obtaining an education, and it impacts all children and not just a few groups. Inclusive classrooms sounds good in theory, but in reality is it all that inclusive, under the progressive banner? 

From a news article: ” Foster said the gifted children are usually the ones who are at the principal’s office because of behavioral issues, they drop out of school, they are socially isolated and have depression. She said gifted children experience mental health issues that come from their personality traits such as heightened sensitivity, emotional intensity and perfectionism. Gifted children are also more likely to develop depression and to commit suicide.”

The same thing could be said about children who have LD, but they get the extra names attached to them. Stupid, dumbo, sped kid, and so many names in reference to their intelligence and school work. Plus LD kids are more likely to be in the office, judging from my own observations over the years, and stats related to suspensions.

Another parent states, “She said many parents are upset because the board has taken programming from one group of exceptionalities and given it to another.

“Once those kids are assessed, what does this board have to offer?” she asked. “I have to say that if you’re gifted, a heck of a lot and if you’re not gifted, not so much. There’s the problem. You have an inequality of support for special education services.”

The educrat’s response is priceless, ““Early identification for the gifted kids is not moving them ahead of anybody else, it’s basically treating them the same as anybody else,” he said.”

And yet the powers to be in the public education system, cannot see that everybody else is less equal than the gifted kids.
http://www.insidehalton.com/community/burlington/article/964374

Nancy - a caution that a “coalition” titled group sends up a red flag for me. Many of People for Education groups have that same title. There is no indication from what I read that it will be anything different.

What IS very different and encouraging is the “private” inclusion and likely the only breath of fresh air there.

Pretty sure most here have heard it all before.

Here’s a little something from today’s London Free Press

http://www.lfpress.com/comment/2011/03/11/17585371.html

Good to see, parents writing a letter to editor. That one will be remembered by parents, especially for parents who have a teenager at home. Parents would have far less problems at home, if the school actually carried out their responsibilities and duties in the light of doing what is right, to prepare students for the world after grade 12.

Actually, the letter is a good way of going after many of the board’s statements, mission, and goals that state one thing, but the reality is very different in their actions. Thank God, in my area there is a 0 given out for overdue assignments, and now there is detention after school, for anyone that did not complete homework that was assigned. They do not leave school, until the homework is completed. These days, there is fewer students leaving after the last bell, because they are in detention, doing their assignments. And it does not matter if the student takes bus transportation, and another consequence is missing the bus, and than phoning home to tell a parent to pick them up.

OT:  Chuck, did you notice the ads beside the London Free Press article you cited?  “Best Private School”, “Child Being Bullied?”, “Online Home School” (for grades 6—12),
and “Behaviour Management”.  Despite McGuinty telling the public that our schools are top notch, the business world appears to be aware that at least some parents don’t think so.  I wonder—is it a minority of parents or the vast majority?