December 16, 2005 Highlights

The Ontario Legislature adjourned for a winter break on December 15. MPPs are scheduled to return to the House for a three-week session commencing February 13, 2006.

1. Government Introduces Bill to Keep Students in School to Age 18

On December 13, 2005, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy introduced legislation (Bill 52) that proposes to make it mandatory for students to remain in school until they graduate or reach the age of 18. The Minister explained:

“If passed, the Learning to 18 legislation would mandate that all school boards make the government's comprehensive student success programs available to students. The bill would also increase the school leaving age to 18, or until graduation, by keeping students learning either in classrooms or in approved out-of-school programs, including apprenticeships or co-operative education.”

The bill also proposes to tie students’ ability to keep a driver’s license to their school attendance records:

“Drivers under the age of 18 who are unable to prove their regular attendance at school or in a recognized learning program could be denied a driver's licence or, if convicted of habitual absence, may have it suspended.”

In making the announcement, the Minister stated that, in 2003, upon assuming office, the provincial graduation rate was 68%. The graduation rate has since increased to 71% but is still far short of the goal set by the government. The government hopes that, through its new policies, curriculum changes, and legislative changes, that rate will increase to 85% by 2010.

Responding on behalf of the Tories, PC Education Critic Frank Klees called the proposal to tie school attendance to students’ driver’s licences “a hair-brained idea” that would be counter-productive and unenforceable. NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese said:

"When you look at other jurisdictions in Canada and the US, the improvements have been marginal at best, and so it proves that this kind of bill doesn't work. Besides, a law like this cannot mandate good programs. It punishes students who for one reason or another cannot stay or do not wish to stay in the school system, so it imposes additional barriers rather than giving opportunities to students.”

The proposals to address student dropouts attracted significant editorial response in the Ontario media as well as attention in Question Period this week. On December 15, 2005 PC Leader John Tory presented the Premier with some U.S. statistics related to experience south of the border:

“I agree with you that a 30% dropout rate is unacceptable. Let's look at the dropout rates in the states that suspend licences for poor school attendance: Alabama, 38% dropout rate; Georgia, 36% dropout rate currently; Texas estimates a dropout rate between 30% and 40%. Those are the states that suspend drivers' licences. According to the Education Commission of the States' March 2005 report, "Little research has been completed on the effect these types of laws have on truancy or dropout rates."

Premier McGuinty responded:

“The leader of the official opposition is missing a very important dimension. He would compare us with dropout rates south of the border. We have learned from those experiences, and we understand that it's very important to put in place the necessary supports, the necessary curriculum and the necessary community-based and workplace opportunities before you put in that kind of a sanction."

“The leader of the official opposition is missing a very important dimension. He would compare us with dropout rates south of the border. We have learned from those experiences, and we understand that it's very important to put in place the necessary supports, the necessary curriculum and the necessary community-based and workplace opportunities before you put in that kind of a sanction."

2. Rural Student Success Program

On December 12, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy announced what the government is calling its “Rural Student Success Program” designed to reduce rural school closures, increase graduation rates, and increase the number of rural students continuing on to post-secondary programs. The program includes a $10-million lighthouse program, a new rural-experience curriculum, and e-learning pilots. The Minister further explained the program:

“The lighthouse program will provide 25 to 50 of our 144 high schools with $100,000 to $200,000 of additional annual funding in each of the two years. This is the latest instalment in what is now a rural funding formula, which has been asked for for a long time and is only now available to support rural students; $20 million was provided earlier this year. Since 2002-03, over $200 million in new annual funding targeting the needs of rural students has taken place. That is a separate fund of $230 million in one-time capital funding -- funding for libraries, energy retrofits and trying to catch up some of the issues. It includes money for transportation.”

NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese insisted the initiatives “will not keep small schools open and [won’t] fix the transportation problems the Tories created, which this government is continuing with. Rural communities need real solutions. On the transportation front, what we've seen is this minister taking money from 33 boards to give to 40 other boards. We think that was not a real solution.

PC MPP Toby Barrett, who used to teach a high school course at the secondary level, stated he was pleased to see a commitment to reviving such a course for high school students, but he questioned to what extent the government’s policies would actually keep rural schools from closing.

3. Government Appoints Advisory Body on Disability Issues

On December 13, Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatella announced the appointment of a provincial advisory body on disability issues. The Accessibility Standards Advisory Council will advise the minister on the development of accessibility standards and on public education programs to support the new legislation designed to implement accessibility measures. The council will be chaired by Citytv journalist David Onley.