Letters to the editor: Nov. 12

November 11, 2008

Letter to Editor

District needs trustees who support universal education

Re: Volunteerism is vital to our public schools, Letters, Nov. 5

The letter by retired teacher/principal, Maurice Preece was misleading. As someone who mentored against disingenuous and false information he now resorts to the same.

His assertions that the Victoria Public Education Coalition (VPEC) is a front for the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association are incorrect.

I sit on the executive of VPEC and am a retired clergyman. I’m not, and never have been, a teacher – not that I consider teaching a profession made up of self-serving people. VPEC is a majority ‘lay’ organization with people from all walks of life – including some teachers.

His second error was to suggest that VPEC and its three trustee candidates would stop parents from volunteering in their children’s schools. Nothing could be further from the truth and Mr. Preece should know better than to suggest it.

The central issue is the provincial government’s underfunding of public education.

Education Minister Shirley Bond and her associates have used every trick in the book to strip resources and funding from school districts, forcing school boards to make up the difference through school fees, fundraising by PACs, and resulting in understaffing of special programs and activities.

Translated, that has meant parents and teachers either must volunteer their services or programs can’t be offered.

Dale Perkins

Victoria

Education mandates are difficult to meet

The popularity and success of Mount Douglas secondary school is that there are over 1,100 students enrolled and seven portables on site. There is not a single empty classroom available to allow for the splitting of an oversized class. Imagine the difficulty of providing every student with the newly-mandated Daily Physical Activity with only one gym. Yet, a few short years ago, there was an empty school available – right across the street. I find it astounding that the very trustees who voted to close Fairburn elementary and sell the lands – which directly border Mount Douglas school – have the gall to run for school board in this month’s election.

We need trustees who will take action to defend public education, who have the courage and integrity to oppose inadequate provincial funding. We need to put an end to the current board’s history of failing to support our schools.

Janet Simpson

Saanich

Housing proposal a ploy to gain votes

I read the advertisment jointly authored by Mayor Frank Leonard and Mr. Paul Gerrard on land banking published in Saanich News on Oct. 29 with some interest. While I applaud such initiative, I am quite suspicious of the intent and timing of this. The history suggests that Mayor Leonard supported selling municipal land at the corner of Elk Lake Road and West Saanich Road, known as the Heritage School Site, for residential and commercial development. Also, to the best of my knowledge, Mayor Leonard has not strongly opposed the sales of surplus school sites to the private sector for housing development. As far as money is concerned, I did not see any funding for housing in Premier Campbell’s recent plan to deal with the declining economy. Also, soon B.C. will have to deal with the potential budget overrun, including security costs, for 2010 Olympics. In addition, I believe, the federal government will be at the brink of budget deficit in 2009, and perhaps beyond, as a result of slowdown in economy and job losses. Hence, it is very unlikely that money from the provincial and federal governments will be forthcoming. Therefore, announcing this initiative now seems to be nothing more than a ploy to gain votes in the upcoming municipal election. That said, I will wait and watch what active steps are taken and what concrete results are delivered over the next three years if both are elected to Saanich council.

Haji Charania

Saanich

Municipal candidates should have green platforms

This election, ask your Saanich municipal candidate/incumbent questions about how green their election platform is. CRD bylaw 2721 does not permit cyclists to use Lochside Trail between sunset and sunrise to commute to and from work – about half of the year for many commuters. Do not buy their answer if the response is it’s a CRD matter because council elects a councillor to the CRD and influences the CRD greater than voters do.

If questioning an incumbent councillor, ask what he has done while in office to promote cycling and extend the hours of use for trail commuters.

Michael Evans

Saanich

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Letters to the editor: Nov. 12

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