THE RECORD ACKNOWLEDGES LOCAL EDUCATION FAILURES

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys the following headline on their Editorial page "Not as smart as we thought". As the Record states "Our publicly funded school boards, it turns out, do a wonderful job of turning poor students into average students". Furthermore "Test resulys combined for the Catholic and public boards clearly show that the region's elementary schoolchildren lag far behind the provincial average for testing in reading, writing and mathematics. Even worse the gap between the local kids and their provincial peers is growing.".

As per a good friend of mine "...nothing will improve until this community admits a problem." I can just hear the pablum and puffery at the Waterloo Region District School Board namely "This isn't a problem it's an opportunity.". Back in 1997 I ran for school trustee granted only partially because I was appalled at the quality of a number of teachers in the elementary system. I remember being appalled at a note written by a public school teacher. It was barely at a Grade 8 level of English yet this teacher was teaching exactly that subject to younger grades. Well I didn't get in and the electorate instead got a lovely lady who just wanted to get along with everybody. I repeat a wonderful person but not what was needed at the school board.