Ford government is being called out for inadequate investment in publicly funded education

BY PAUL JUNOR

Education unions over the past four years have expressed concerns about the chronic funding of public education. On the eve of the anticipated budget, they held a press conference at the Media Studio in the Legislative Building at Queen’s Park, Toronto.

They released a joint release titled, “Ford Government Threatens Student Success and Well-Being with Underfunding Education Budget.” The unions represented include the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontarients (AEFO), Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO).

They are calling attention to the Ford government’s inadequate investment in publicly funded education and demanding real action to support students. In background materials released by ETFO before the provincial budget, it was revealed that in March 2022, the inflation rate was 6.7% and that Grants for Student Needs (GSN), which make up the majority of funding in the education budget grew by only 2.7%, which translates into a reduction of $1 billion when inflation and projected student enrolment are taken into consideration.

The backgrounder notes, “If education funding fails to keep up with rising costs, school boards will have no choice but to make cuts, meaning fewer teachers and education workers, less individual attention for students, and fewer programs and resources. The loss of educational assistants, child and youth workers, speech and language pathologists, and other specialized positions will disproportionately impact Ontario’s most vulnerable students.”

In light of the potential underfunding by the provincial government, AEFO president Anne Vinet-Roy stated in the joint release, “Students need an education budget that prioritizes their mental health, well-being, and academic success and delivers a robust and well-funded learning recovery plan.”

ETFO is particularly concerned about the misleading words that the government has used to share its budget plans. President Karen Burke stated, “The Ford government calls its education plan a historic investment, but it is nothing more than a shell game – a thinly veiled deception that merely puts back some of the previous cuts, fails to address inflation, and prioritizes electioneering at the expense of student success. The Ford government’s true intent, to cut $13.2 billion from school boards over the next nine years, as projected by the Financial Accountability Office. It will have a devastating impact on students and publicly funded education.”

The unions call on the government to ensure the following is done:

• End the reckless cuts and the plan to cut $12.3 billion from education over the next nine years
• Support a robust, multi-year learning recovery plan, including a commitment to smaller class sizes, so that all students get the focused individual attention from teachers and education workers that they deserve
• Expand school-based mental health resources, supports, and services, to achieve equitable outcomes and meet the diverse needs of students and educators, including those needed for successful secondary curriculum de-streaming
• Address the $17 billion repair backlog and outstanding safety concerns in schools, such as crumbling infrastructure and poor ventilation.

The education unions have all right to be concerned about the potential actions of the provincial government.