SCHOOL BOARDS GET CRAPPED ON AGAIN

Well it certainly is illuminating to find out that it isn't just our local Waterloo Region District School Board that is so bad. Apparently school boards throughout Ontario have routinely been getting taken over by the provincial Ministry of Education. While at first blush it seems undemocratic to overule the elected trustees and tell them to step down in favour of a provincial superviser; in fact it sometimes isn't.

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "School board trustee job should be abolished", written by Martin Regg Cohn. Mr. Cohn raises two huge issues. The one is that so many trustees are simply about using their position as a springboard to higher office. In other words trying to make a living on the public purse. Apparently when you look at the number of dysfunctional school boards you begin to understand that their motives were not to improve education so much as to improve their electoral chances. You will also learn that the public really are hopeless at electing good people. It's all very superficial. What do the candidates look like and sound like? Are they photogenic with an honest looking face whatever that might happen to be?

The other issue is how quickly certain trustees jump on the gravy train. Would you believe taxpayer paid trips for trustees to New Zealand, Hawaii, Finland, Netherlands and Britain? What can those trustees possibly learn there that would make them better trustees here in Ontario? The answer is nothing. These are simple junkets and rewards for certain trustees who have done as they were told. Disgusting.