THE POLITICIZATION OF EDUCATION

How can that be you ask? How do you make education Conservative or Liberal or NDP? I mean there was a time when I actually thought that municipal politicians were also apolitical. Big mistake. Former Regional Chair Ken Seiling was Conservative. Current Regional Chair Karen Redman is Liberal. Up here in the wilds of Woolwich Township our current mayor Sandy Shantz is Conservative. Back in the day there were a number of NDP leaning trustees on the school board (WRDSB).

Still I am confused. Isn't mathematics, reading and writing non-political? I used to think so. Less now. Aren't all the trustees first and foremost interested in improving educational opportunity and outcomes? Eh not so much. Likely all of them want better results on the provincial math and English tests but there are lots of ways of doing that including getting rid of the provincial tests and letting the schools themselves decide how well their students are doing. This plan of course demands trust in the integrity, credibility and veracity of our entire local, educational regime.  Ha! LOL!  Just kidding folks!

In today's Waterloo Region Record is a Letter To The Editor from WRDSB trustee Cindy Watson. She is one of a small group who overall has been a dedicated and devoted trustee for a very long time. Like all of us she is not perfect but nevertheless she has acquitted herself admirably in a stressful and difficult environment for a very long time. Her Letter gently points out the hypocrisy (my words) of trustee Laurie Tremble. She also bluntly advises readers that a current trustee stated that appointed trustees "...should have the same ideology of the trustees they are replacing." Wow! Now that's politicization of education.

This is terrifying. Are all our public bodies politicized? Is everything looked at through the lens of politics? Are our hospitals politicized? Our libraries? Our police? How about our entire judicial system including judges appointed by the governments of the day? 

There are days when I suspect that the human race is definitely doomed. Maybe in the long run and maybe a whole lot sooner. Yes there are worse systems than Democracy but it too has badly failed us so far.