Hurting education

Re: McGuinty’s micromanaging is the larger education issue, Dec. 21.

Thank you, Pam FitzGerald for identifying the many concerns and the policy fatigue that teachers and school boards have faced in the last 15 years.

It started with the Harris government which, under the guise of improving schools, adopted failed American policies that had at their heart an agenda to slash the education budget. Although Premier Dalton McGuinty brought labour peace, his government continued down the same road and brought in even more policies that will not deliver the educational goals they are designed to achieve.

Public money is wasted on provincial testing which has created a climate of teaching to the test; time that is not spent on other areas of real learning. Gone are phys-ed specialists, music teachers, some special-ed teachers etc. who used to provide expertise in the elementary classroom. The money wasted on provincial testing would be better spent on hiring more teachers who can provide these special skills. One only has to look at the sorry state of the American public school system to realize that we don’t need to imitate their ideas.

CATHY HALEY,

Ottawa