MARK-ALAN WHITTLE
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EA STRIKE IS A BARRIER TO LEARNING

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Flamborough Post
When Logan and I got to school last Friday, our principal ushered us into the office and closed the door.
Some mysterious person at the school board sent her a directive to stop me from providing an education for my boy right along side his able-bodied class mates.
How can this be possible in a free and just society such as Canada? Why has a labour union been allowed to erect a self-serving "barrier" that prevents my son from getting the education he deserves?
Why is Logan being targeted for discrimination by being used as a crass bargaining tool in an unnecessary labour dispute?
Someone has clearly crossed the line.
My wife, Laurie, or I have been at the school daily for over a year helping Ridgemount Elementary school provide a proper education for my boy.
I'm an executive member of the Assembly of School Councils and the vice chair for the advisory committee for Persons with Disabilities. I work hard to see people's lives improved for the better.
What employee of the board has the authority to remove my son from school since I'm quite willing and able to continue his education myself free of charge? It's my duty as his father to put his needs above my own.
Logan is a perceptive boy who understands everything you tell him. He started to cry when he was told to go home. Until that moment in time, I had faith the government and school board would always do the right things for special education students in Hamilton.
You can understand how this good faith has been shaken. It has been a hard and worthy burden I gladly carry, hoping to see my aspirations for Logan come to fruition. All I have ever wanted was a measure of happiness for Logan and that he has friends who love and nurture him. Living angels are like that, I'm told.
I know the other children will miss him in class. It always amazes me when I see how the kids care for and protect him. I know in my heart that my son affects them in ways that evoke a caring attitude that will hold them in good stead for the rest of their lives.
It's a good and positive thing for children to experience in their own way, unfettered by adult notions learned over time. The classroom is the best for this kind of living and learning miracle to happen.
Children will learn these notions of inclusion and equality easily when they get to live it and be part of it with Logan in that place of learning we have all been.
I'm proud he's so gifted in this regard.
Why is it so terribly hard for school boards and labour unions to see the harm they are doing to the public education system by constantly fighting over money ahead of the kids?
I have had to fight tooth and nail to ensure that Logan gets a fair shake. It's the right thing to do and it defines me as a caring Canadian, trying hard to provide him an education like the rest of his peers still in class.
When will the board and union come to know this as well?

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