The Ford government is cutting billions of dollars from publicly-funded education: vote to protect public education

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has done some research into education funding.  Their estimate is that compared to 2018-19, school boards have received $1,500 less per student. The result is billions of dollars lost to education in Ontario.

Unions have been complaining about the impacts of these cuts on their members for several years now – staffing shortages, burnout, increased incidents of violence in classrooms and hallways, cancellation of much needed prep time, etc.  There is huge agreement on this from all the unions – whether Catholic, public, high school or elementary.  Workers in schools are burning out working in these conditions – and they are burning out fast.  Staff retention is a huge issue for schools and there aren’t enough supply teachers to meet demand because the conditions inside the schools are driving staff away. Just recently parents at a Toronto school turned to social media to fill two empty teacher positions staffed through a revolving door of occasional teachers and even other school staff members.

And if the public is dubious about the complaints launched by workers, we can ask frontline management of principals and vice-principals their thoughts on what’s happening inside the schools. Oddly enough, they’re in agreement. Ontario principals councils have launched a soft campaign called “Boiling Point: Principals struggle to sustain Ontario schools” where they are advocating for their schools and saying enough is enough. The graphics in the kit are very disturbing and I find this kind of advocacy rare and unusual for management. Of 3,738 administrators surveyed in October 2023, 83 percent said that they had witnessed violence or threats of violence by a student towards a staff member. They reported that 92 percent of their time is not related to student achievement.

Why isn’t there public outcry from school boards on this?  Well, they’re afraid of the provincial government. School boards and their trustees are legally required to produce balanced budgets – otherwise they risk being taken over by the province. So, no one wants to stir the pot and vote against a CUTS budget. They all have political pressure to vote in support of cuts to their schools. Thirty-one school boards across the province are currently reporting deficits. Here is a non-comprehensive attempt to track the cuts at the different boards: Cuts to Boards Across Ontario.

There is one school board across the province who has actually come out and said that funding isn’t enough and that constituents need to contact their MPP.  The Halton District School Board has been sounding the alarm that under-funding + increased costs = cuts to education. Halton is budgeting for a $7.7 million dollar deficit for the current school year, facing 10-30 percent increased costs along with $6 million in required increase to employees’ Canada Pension and Employment Insurance benefits – unfunded by the provincial government.    

For those who are still dubious, there is a Building Better Schools website – from Elementary Teachers Federation Ontario (ETFO ) – that has actually launched an interactive tool where you are able to find the exact cuts to your local school – anywhere in the province.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a French, Catholic, public board.  Doesn’t matter if it’s high school or elementary school – the tool works the same across the Province. The flyers are downloadable too if you click the black arrow button at the bottom of each school’s cuts page.   

The response of the Ford government has always been that they are making “historic investments” in education and that no other government has funded education to these levels. It’s smoke and mirrors.  And for those who don’t work in the schools or aren’t heavily involved as parents, this veneer of an excuse is working! People believe that this Ford government is really investing $16 billion into renewal of schools.

This is why several unions and the Labour Council have launched the Fund Our Schools campaign to get members to tell their stories in order to combat the Ford narrative that historic investments are being made. Through the website – www.fundourschools.ca – staff of Ontario’s schools (and parents and the general public) can talk about the impact of the under-funding, the impact of the cuts, on their lives and their students’ lives. There are social media channels where these stories are released and they are also published on the website. It is the hope that, through stories, we can combat the narrative that historic investments are being made.  There is also an email petition Take Action with which you can send a message to the Premier and Education Minister that under-funding is not okay! 

 Again, $3 billion has been taken out of public education – and that might be okay if you don’t have a child, grandchild, or relatives to send to publicly-funded schools. You might not care that the Ford government is hollowing out public education so that more parents will send their children to private schools. 

 But at some point, everyone will need healthcare.  You might be young, able-bodied and healthy now, but this Ford government is decimating all public services that we hold near and dear as Canadians – education, healthcare, and other public services.  If you are worried about the people in your community and are tired of seven years of underfunded schools, increased homelessness, degraded healthcare and poverty, do not vote for the Conservatives. It’s not worth jeopardizing the future of Ontarians.