__lex-teacher, + The hese over the éolican Teachers, Tears ‘and Laughter rolls on. Frankly, Tm delighted. It’s time that the taxpayers had a long and critical look at the’ educational bureaucracy, and maybe it will happen now. It’s important that this for reasons of ‘length; here’ s examination doesn’t ‘turri._the gist of his message. into’ a ‘witch-hunt’. While ° the primary target of the first column was the teachers and - principals of the educational | system,‘in fact the system ‘also includes a lot of - administrative layers, and they are in need of examina- tion as well. : There are many people in the school system..who are doing: a _ fine job,_' and whateve: happens we should’ “are ‘achieve that: some _People Peet has. caused ae a A system ‘in the first place, in my opinion:: > A letter this morning, with some fresh input, interested me.:Froin Jim McDowell, an it’s ——_ self- explatiatory. i have edited it north shore e ; - -OFFICENEWS. (804) 980-0511 - CLASSIFIED _ 986-6222 a CIRCULATION * 986-1337 Eu s SN" Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Bob Graham Editor-in-Chiel starent Wright ing Editor er Fraser News Editor Chris Uoyd Photos Elisworth Dickson Advertising Director Eric Cardwell Tratfic Manager Donna Champion Production Tim Francis Faye McCrae Classified Bemi Hillard Circulation Mansger Yvonne Gourley ° Administration Barbara Haywood Accounts Syivia Sorenson h Shore News, founded 1969 as an independent community newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Part 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act.is published each Wednesday and Sunday by the North Shore Free Press Lid. and diatributed to every door on the North Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 3865. VERIFIED CIRCULATION 47, ASI Entire contents¢. 1079 North Shore Free Prose Lid. All rigivts reserved. resigned: ES Dear Mr. Speck: _ ve taught for 20 years, and you weren’t just “‘spec- ulating”” ” in your .recent article. You put your finger . right on the spot where the baby-sitting industry in’ the guise of an education system— is most vulnerable. ~ In June of last year I from a $24,000 ‘child: to that school could teaching job in a nearby— district for one reason —‘‘I .am over-paid arid wunder- » B.C.) utilized,”” as I told ~ the Assistant Superintendent. I‘urged them to find me a challenging job somewhere in the district before the year was up. When they couldn’t find a: tough, demanding challenge, 1 **Maybe you can live with the guilt of paying me so much for doing so little, but don’t want to’’. So I resigned. I am now working as a free-lance writer, and. one-of the articles that I’ve written is about the ‘Voucher Plan’ told them, © . customers to survive,”’ says- " middle class, ultimately pay for it.’’ ‘plan’ will save the public for school financing.’ This . involyes- a -school system funded by a. province-wide system of vouchers which © parents.could use like cash to send théir children to the school of their chdice. Faced with severe financial cut- backs by school boards and escalating taxes (up an average of 1S per cent in dissatisfied parents may soon say, ‘‘Give us the money and let us make our own choices’’ Such a system is getting a new look in California where voucher advocates are now planning to make it an initiative measure on the June, 1980 ballot. Under the California voucher plan there would be four types of schools: regular public schools, completely private schools, ‘‘public scholar- ship”’ schools, and ‘‘private scholarship’’ schools. It- is the ‘‘scholarship schools’’ that would be new. Voucher advocates sce the plan working like this: Any parents who did not want their child to attend their assigned public school could apply tothe state government for a ‘“‘scholarship’’ — a voucher — worth no more than 90 per cent of the average cost of educating a public school child that year. (The cost this year is $1500 per child in California, $1800 in B.C.) With this voucher parents could then enroll their child in any public or privatc **scholarship school’’ in the state that charged the basic voucher rate. The school selected would, by law, have to admit the child if there were room, regardless of the child’s race, religion, intell- * : willing to support the system ‘scholarship schools in order _additional scholarship. Low care eee irate wae ee ay Pt as jigerice, ability, or previous behavioral problems. No public school board. yo ould: be forced to go along ith the voucher’ plan. But ‘most districts would probably have at least some public to compete successfully for students. Similarly, existing private schools with waiting lists and their own standards who didn’t want to participate would not be required to. do so. ._ If a private scholarship school chose to charge more than the basic voucher rate,.a parent who wanted to send 4 apply to the state for an income families could buy the extra scholarship - ‘for a nominal price; . wealthier parents would have to -pay more than the actual cost of the additional scholarship. ‘ ; “Participating would have to please their John Coons, a law professor at U.C.L.A. ‘“‘What we’re trying ta do is build a new system of public education that is attractive to the which must Coons maintains that the voucher school: system because, if the state. * ays the tuition _ of Students attending partici- -pating ‘private schools, their parents . will’ remain more with taxes. The voucher plan has been tried experimentally in one public school. district in the U.S..oen a limited scale. The Alum Rock district in San Jose, California started the plan in 1972 in 9 out of 24 schools.. At the end of the first year 84 per cent of the . teacher and 80 per cent of the parents were pleased. Seven more schools joined voluntar- ily in 1973. Alum Rock made vivid and real many emo- tional issues that still centre around the voucher scheme. It has not been tried in Canada. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Psst COOK BOOKS We are Interested in buying unused items in your collection. Pacific Books 1135 Lonsdale North Vancouver 980-2121 - _ “dolby noise reduction - .05% wow schools, : the new leader .. woe At Big Bird Sound we spetiilize in taoriig ‘Sqund to your need your bucoet— your taste. We: wont you ‘to. fit.the system: in - addition, we sellonty quality products - eve. 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