October 6, 2006 Highlights
Page Content:
On this page:
- Education Funding
- Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board Faced with Takeover
- PC Leader John Tory will Battle Education Minister in Provincial Election
- World Teachers’ Day
1. Education Funding
This week the Liberal government was challenged on a number of fronts with respect to the adequacy of the education funding formula. Not just the Opposition parties, but also the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, former Tory-appointed Toronto DSB supervisor Paul Christie, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) went public over structural problems with funding for schools.
Premier Dalton McGuinty and Education Minister Kathleen Wynne faced a daily barrage of funding-related questions in the Legislature. The heightened criticism and focus on the funding issue seriously risk undermining the Liberals’ claim to have restored peace and stability in the education sector.
On October 2, in response to a question from NDP Leader Howard Hampton about problems facing the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board, Minister Wynne replied:
“We understand that the education funding formula has needed work, and here's what we've done since we've been in office. We've increased funding: $2.7 billion -- $1,600 a student across the province. We have put thousands of new teachers into the elementary and the secondary system. We've increased funding for ESL. We have made the funding formula more transparent to families and to parents across the system. We've updated our school operations grant. We've introduced a new school foundation grant that acknowledges that small schools need a principal and a teacher and a secretary. We're working on the funding formula. We know it needs more work, and we're continuing to do that."
PC Education Critic Frank Klees confronted the Minister of Education about when she was a former school trustee and challenged the Education Act’s requirement for boards to balance their budgets. “You also, as a trustee, referred to cuts to school boards as a crime against children.” Minister Wynne replied:
“When I was a school trustee in 2002, we did not have a government in place that was investing billions of dollars in publicly funded education. We had in place a government that was giving tax credits to private schools. And we know that the member opposite fervently believes in private education. So it's a completely different time. It is absolutely a different circumstance.”
2. Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board Faced with Takeover
On September 29, in response to the refusal of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board to make the cuts required to balance its budget, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne issued a news release outlining the board’s legal responsibility to submit a “deficit-management plan to reach fiscal balance.” On October 2, NDP Leader Howard Hampton accused the government of forcing the board to cut its $1.9 million Reading Recovery Program. He asserted the government was forcing the board to take responsibility for shortcomings in the provincial funding formula. Premier McGuinty defended the government’s financial support for the board:
“,,,we've increased funding for that particular school board by $128 million over three years. That's a 22% increase. I think that's pretty significant. That means we've increased funding per pupil by $1,300. That works out to an 18% increase per pupil.”
The Premier went on to point out specific improvements at the board including smaller class sizes, 137 new teachers, a 10% increase in test scores, and $60 million in capital projects.
3. PC Leader John Tory will Battle Education Minister in Provincial Election
On October 4, PC Leader John Tory announced he will be running in the riding of Don Valley West in the next provincial election. Education Minister Kathleen Wynne currently holds the seat. Ms. Wynne won the 2003 election by a margin of more than 6,000 votes.
Mr. Tory promised when he ran in a byelection in 2002 that he would ultimately run in Toronto where there are currently no seats held by the Ontario PC Party.
4. World Teachers’ Day
On October 5, representatives of all three parties in the Legislature made statements in recognition of World Teachers’ Day. All who spoke made reference to a teacher or teachers who made a positive impact on their lives. Premier McGuinty lauded Ontario teachers for the degree to which they participated in “enhanced training” on their own time. He further stated:
“I know that our province is a province of great teachers because when we asked them to embrace change and work with us on behalf of our kids, they met us with open minds and tremendous professionalism. I know that because we set the bar high for student achievement, and student performance is improving year after year. But I know that most of all because, while governments can be transient, policies can be temporary and politics are almost always volatile, Ontario teachers' commitment to our kids is a constant.”
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne used the opportunity to recognize the four recipients of the teaching awards sponsored by the Ontario Teacher Insurance Plan announced that day by the Ontario Teachers’ Federation. PC John Tory spoke of how impressed he was by the fact that his adult children’s former teachers whom he meets from time to time “still remember our kids as individuals.” NDP Education Critic stated he views teachers as heroes and then used the balance of his time to criticize the government for its education failures. He stated he was confident that teachers would approve.
For more information about the proceedings of the Ontario Legislature, check its website: www.ontla.on.ca