TORONTO -- Ontario's opposition Liberals, buoyed by a new opinion poll giving them a commanding lead over the governing Tories, launched their key education policy yesterday and immediately triggered a bitter row inside their own party.

Joseph Carnevale, chairman of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, issued an open letter late last night in which he accused senior Liberal adviser Warren Kinsella of trying "to coerce me into silence simply because I chose to represent the needs of the students of my board and speak out against one of their (Liberal) platform promises."

Mr. Carnevale had said earlier that a Liberal campaign promise to cap class sizes at 20 students in junior kindergarten through Grade 3 was not feasible and too expensive because it would require the hiring of hundreds of new teachers, including many who are uncertified, the construction of hundreds of new portable classrooms and the formation of many more split-grade classes.

In the letter, Mr. Carnevale said he received a scathing phone call from Mr. Kinsella.

"I was told to rip up my Liberal membership card, and accused of making the cost of this plan an issue in the ongoing provincial campaign," Mr. Carnevale wrote, adding that he was "deeply concerned and disgusted" by the tactics. "Apparently I am only a good Liberal when I attack the other parties and I shouldn't speak up about real issues in their platform"

Mr. Kinsella said late Monday that "the allegations are categorically false and I have retained counsel to seek a retraction."

Meanwhile, Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty stumbled yesterday when reporters asked for specifics on his plans for education spending.

When asked exactly how much the Liberals would be spending at the end of four years, he said only that "$1.6 billion is our commitment to additional funding after inflation."

Mr. McGuinty was also at a loss when asked how much is budgeted for education in Ontario this year. Aides later insisted McGuinty's inability to cite the $15.3 billion allotted to education spending in 2003-2004 is irrelevant because Conservative budget numbers cannot be believed.

*** Realistic expectations of what any one teacher can do in one classroom. Listen to teachers in the field on this -- not to experts, nor consultants, nor anyone who does not run a classroom, with the possible exception of those who have retired--or quit because they burned out and couldn't stand the whole thing any more. They would love to be consulted for honest responses -- not politically correct ones.

*** Stop expecting special needs students' problems to be addressed in the average classroom; they won't be, and to pretend otherwise is ridiculous. The only ones pushing this are:

*** the governments who could then close special needs schools

*** the parents of the special needs students--and I cannot blame these loving and caring parents since governments have been remiss in closing the special needs schools

*** those who are specially trained to work with special needs children

*** those who want the additional jobs involved or provide support services

*** those hangers on who have climbed aboard the politically correct bandwagon

If a child is physically handicapped, there are possibilities -- and the child's needs can be addressed, but children who are mentally handicapped are just occupying a seat and several consultants' attention -- and, for the most part, they are ignored by the other students. It is a crock to believe that the other students become more compassionate; it is only the one or two dear, kind students in each classroom who do most for the handicapped in the classroom, not the great majority of students.

Let's be honest. We need to educate the educable who will go on to economically productive lives if we succeed -- and who will provide the taxpayer dollars for the care of their disadvantaged brethren.

*** Start with discipline and start with believing the word of the one who is supposed to be running the show, the classroom teacher. Support old-fashioned discipline so everyone can learn.