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Issues & Experts: Re-ignited tensions on the public school front; exploring Scottish history
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Sep 19, 2003
Back to bickering about school… With kindergarten to Grade 12 kids back at school, the lessons have begun not only for them, but their parents. SFU education professor Peter Grimmett, an expert on K-12 school public policy can offer thought on what is re-igniting tensions between parents, teachers and the provincial government. Grimmett says inadequate funding and imaginative arithmetic are disguising reductions. They in turn are fostering parental complaints about paying for things that school boards used to cover and renting out school space to raise money. Grimmett can also comment on reaction to the government’s efforts to make the school system more flexible by opening up where kids can attend school and allowing schools to specialize in subjects of choice. "This is interpreted differently by different people. "To some this is the thin edge of the wedge of privatization within the public system; to others it is the kind of choice they’ve always wanted," says Grimmett. "Coming as it does with an actual shortage of dollars in the system, this is creating all sorts of pressures on local administrative units."
Exploring Scottish history…SFU’s centre for Scottish studies is hosting an event guaranteed to get Scottish blood flowing as Halloween approaches. Lizanne Henderson, a professor of Scottish history at the University of Dundee in Scotland, has written extensively about the supernatural in early Scotland. In her lecture, The Supernatural in Scottish History: Fairies, Witches, Kelpies and Banshees, Henderson will delve into the strong Scottish culture, folk belief and attitudes about the supernatural. The lecture takes place Wednesday, September 24, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., AQ5119, SFU Burnaby campus. Contact Harry McGrath, 604-268-6810, hmcgrath@sfu.ca. On Thursday September 25, Ted Cowan, a professor of Scottish history at Glasgow University, will give a lecture on The Scotching of Canada. Presented by the St. Andrew’s and Caledonian Society, the lecture takes place at 7:30 p.m. at SFU Harbour centre. Reservations recommended. Phone 604.291.5100.
- - Peter Grimmett, 604.291.4937, grimmett@sfu.ca
Exploring Scottish history…SFU’s centre for Scottish studies is hosting an event guaranteed to get Scottish blood flowing as Halloween approaches. Lizanne Henderson, a professor of Scottish history at the University of Dundee in Scotland, has written extensively about the supernatural in early Scotland. In her lecture, The Supernatural in Scottish History: Fairies, Witches, Kelpies and Banshees, Henderson will delve into the strong Scottish culture, folk belief and attitudes about the supernatural. The lecture takes place Wednesday, September 24, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., AQ5119, SFU Burnaby campus. Contact Harry McGrath, 604-268-6810, hmcgrath@sfu.ca. On Thursday September 25, Ted Cowan, a professor of Scottish history at Glasgow University, will give a lecture on The Scotching of Canada. Presented by the St. Andrew’s and Caledonian Society, the lecture takes place at 7:30 p.m. at SFU Harbour centre. Reservations recommended. Phone 604.291.5100.
- - Harry McGrath, 604.268.6810, hmcgrath@sfu.ca