write to Wynne today
All Ontario children deserve to attend safe, well-maintained schools. Actionable: Reminder to send a letter today! Many of you have already sent Premier Wynne’s government THIS LETTER, letting them know you expect the Province to prioritize Ontario’s schools as critical infrastructure by releasing a budget that allocates the amount of money required to truly begin to Fix Ontario’s Schools. If […]
Formulate Funding for at-risk students now!
In a just-published open letter to the new Minister of Education (signed by CPE together with 10 other social development agencies from across Ontario) we have asserted yet again that the province: “must ensure that the Learning Opportunities Grant is used as intended and that adequate funding is provided to make that possible” You […]
School funding: the solutions
Economist Hugh Mackenzie insists in the latest issue of Our Schools/Our Selves that IT’S TIME FOR A NEW FUNDING FORMULA — ONE THAT PRESSES THE RESET BUTTON ON WHAT THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM SHOULD BE. IT’S TIME TO ARTICULATE A NEW SET OF GOALS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ONTARIO THAT LAYS OUT A UNIFYING VISION FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS — ONE THAT […]
Dismal record of education funding
The looming Ontario election means that, once again, education will be a key topic of debate. The new issue of Our Schools/Our Selves focuses on a number of key issues that education workers, parents, students and public education advocates are confronting in schools and communities, and offers on-the-ground commentary and analysis of what needs to be done for us to get […]
Province: “Tell parents about lead in school drinking water”
In a recent Toronto Star article entitled,“Education Minister asks school boards to notify parents of lead in drinking water in ‘timely manner‘”, the issue of lead in drinking water in schools and daycares in Ontario continues to be explored. Education Minister Hunter claimed that the Province has a long-term plan to address lead in drinking […]
Auditor General calls for independent review of schools funding formula:
On December 6th in Toronto, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released her 2017 Annual Report. The report includes 14 different audits that focus on provincial government spending. Two audits in particular are relevant to Ontario school boards and public education: Ministry Funding and Oversight of School Boards In the 2016/17 school year, the Ministry and municipalities combined provided school boards […]
Horwath’s promise
According to her official facebook page release Andrea Horwath stopped short of calling for a province-wide “standard of good repair” or the elimination of a $15.9 billion backlog in Ontario’s school repairs. The NDP leader’s page reports that she committed to (the significantly less-ambitious promise) to make Education Development Charges available to Toronto’s public school […]
Fund the repair of Ontario’s crumbling schools
Submissions to the Ministry of Education on what we need to see in the 2018 Grants for Student Needs (GSNs) have been coming in from across the province. Here is CPE’s submission. Based on the Ministry’s own figures, senior economist Hugh Mackenzie, in his new report, Ontario’s Deteriorating Schools; The Fix is Not In, concludes that $1.6 billion of additional funding will […]
Ending cops-in-schools right thing to do
The Toronto District School Board’s decision to opt out of the School Resource Officer program has been interpreted by some as anti-police. That is completely false, writes board chair Robin Pilkey. The Toronto District School Board’s recent decision to end the School Resource Officer (SRO) program has prompted some concerns and questions. As chair of the […]
Liberals sidestep $15.9 billion repair backlog
Directly following our Tuesday press conference Ontario’s Premier was questioned: NDP’s Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. Schools in Ontario need $15.9 billion worth of repairs just to get them to decent standards for our children. That’s a very big number, with very big consequences. In the summer, that number means kids are in the classrooms […]