Re: Parents upset by school board decision At the heart of this issue is the education of the affected students, but education does not just take place at school. As I see it, the greatest lesson that these students are taking away from this experience is the one that their parents are teaching them about change. Unfortunately it is a negative one, and it is damaging in three ways. First, they are learning that change is bad: it is something to be feared, and to be avoided at all costs. Secondly, that when you are averse to change the best way to deal with your conflict is to voice your opinion as loudly and as publicly as possible, and to threaten legal action. And finally, that the government is an entity that is not to be trusted because their decisions are driven by the logic of finance and the needs of the many over the needs of the few. When we choose to live in small communities we cannot have access to the same variety of services that cities can offer. It is unreasonable to think that we can “have it all” without having to sacrifice small-town living. As a teacher and a parent, I can understand the frustration of losing or having to change access to a service that you previously enjoyed, but the realities of economies-of-scale were something that you were aware of when you chose to live in a town, rather than a city.
Andrea Halabecki
