By Kristin Rushowy
Queen's Park Bureau
Tue., March 21, 2023
The government needs to provide additional mental health help and supports to deal with violence in schools in the upcoming Ontario budget, says the union representing the province’s public secondary teachers.
“We call on the Ford government to make investing in public education a priority in this budget,” said Martha Hradowy, vice-president of the 60,000-member Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, at a news conference at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, adding the province has shortchanged education in successive budgets.
“We cannot allow Ontario to fall behind.”
Hradowy said there are staff shortages already and “we are facing stiff competition from other jurisdictions for teachers and education workers … Provinces such as Alberta are making efforts to increase staffing in their public education system, with potential to attract teachers and education workers from Ontario. At the same time, we have noticed an increase in the number of faculty of education graduates choosing not to work in education. All of this adds up to a crisis that can be averted through proper investments in public education.”
In the legislature, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said funding for the sector has increased and will continue to, despite dwindling enrolment in some boards.
“This year alone compared to last year, it is up $683 million,” he told the legislature, adding the provincial government has provided funding for thousands of education workers, principals and teachers that will be boosted in Thursday’s budget.
He noted that the Toronto District School Board is receiving $38 million more compared to five years ago, despite a drop in enrolment of 16,000 students.
But NDP education critic Chandra Pasma accused the government of “underfunding education by stealth,” by not keeping up with inflation and providing less money than schools actually need, pointing to boards like Toronto and Ottawa public that are planning on cutting staff.
Liberal MPP and former education minister Mitzie Hunter said that during the pandemic, “school boards were forced to go into their reserve funds — which were set aside for other priorities — and they have not been made whole by the government.”
She said the government should keep extra pandemic funding in place, because “the results of the pandemic and the impact of the pandemic still must be addressed, and we cannot afford for our young people to be victims of that, or to have any scarring effects from the pandemic. Now is the time to invest, to set them up for a good future … I would urge the government to rethink, and to think about how it can better support our schools to set up students for success.”
The TDSB, which is the largest in the country with about 235,000 students in 583 schools, is bracing for cuts. It’s currently forecasting a $61-million deficit for its 2023-24 budget, but is still waiting to hear from the province about how much funding it will receive.
Only after the budget is tabled will boards have a clearer sense of how much funding they’ll get from the Ministry of Education, which is tied to student enrolment.
The TDSB says it’s in a challenging position because overall enrolment is declining.
Tue., March 21, 2023
The government needs to provide additional mental health help and supports to deal with violence in schools in the upcoming Ontario budget, says the union representing the province’s public secondary teachers.
“We call on the Ford government to make investing in public education a priority in this budget,” said Martha Hradowy, vice-president of the 60,000-member Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, at a news conference at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, adding the province has shortchanged education in successive budgets.
“We cannot allow Ontario to fall behind.”
Hradowy said there are staff shortages already and “we are facing stiff competition from other jurisdictions for teachers and education workers … Provinces such as Alberta are making efforts to increase staffing in their public education system, with potential to attract teachers and education workers from Ontario. At the same time, we have noticed an increase in the number of faculty of education graduates choosing not to work in education. All of this adds up to a crisis that can be averted through proper investments in public education.”
In the legislature, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said funding for the sector has increased and will continue to, despite dwindling enrolment in some boards.
“This year alone compared to last year, it is up $683 million,” he told the legislature, adding the provincial government has provided funding for thousands of education workers, principals and teachers that will be boosted in Thursday’s budget.
He noted that the Toronto District School Board is receiving $38 million more compared to five years ago, despite a drop in enrolment of 16,000 students.
But NDP education critic Chandra Pasma accused the government of “underfunding education by stealth,” by not keeping up with inflation and providing less money than schools actually need, pointing to boards like Toronto and Ottawa public that are planning on cutting staff.
Liberal MPP and former education minister Mitzie Hunter said that during the pandemic, “school boards were forced to go into their reserve funds — which were set aside for other priorities — and they have not been made whole by the government.”
She said the government should keep extra pandemic funding in place, because “the results of the pandemic and the impact of the pandemic still must be addressed, and we cannot afford for our young people to be victims of that, or to have any scarring effects from the pandemic. Now is the time to invest, to set them up for a good future … I would urge the government to rethink, and to think about how it can better support our schools to set up students for success.”
The TDSB, which is the largest in the country with about 235,000 students in 583 schools, is bracing for cuts. It’s currently forecasting a $61-million deficit for its 2023-24 budget, but is still waiting to hear from the province about how much funding it will receive.
Only after the budget is tabled will boards have a clearer sense of how much funding they’ll get from the Ministry of Education, which is tied to student enrolment.
The TDSB says it’s in a challenging position because overall enrolment is declining.
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