I visited our riding’s public schools in September this year, and for the first time ever, I noticed these big blue signs on most school buildings, boasting about Ontario’s plan to fix and build schools.
Not orange, not red, not green, but blue, a lighter shade of Conservative party blue.
We've talked to parents and teachers about these signs, and they are as angry as we are. It feels like a smack in the face to drop off your child at a school with broken washrooms and no air conditioning, and have to walk by this false, partisan sign.
I fear the government is forcing school boards to spend taxpayer money to make the government look good, as an early election looms. That shouldn't be allowed.
It's also false advertising. Ontario's overall education budget has gone down by $2.7B over the past six years, when inflation and rising school enrollment are factored in.
Government funding to fix schools, and build new schools, is also being cut. While it is true, that overall funding to school capital projects has gone up from $1.4B to $1.6B a year, this is not good news for our kids' schooling. Let me explain why.
1) This translates to a cut in funding, when inflation and student enrollment is factored
2) School capital funding is now expected to cover new school construction and new childcare spaces, and in previous years it didn't have to.
3) Even with this funding, schools still have about $16B in outstanding repairs.
Every parent and teacher knows full well that our kids are going to school in aging buildings, they're learning in larger class sizes, and they have less teaching support.
Take Jesse Ketchum school on Bay St, Toronto. Government capital funding will be used to repair the school's boiler, but the school still have 47 urgent repairs, ranging from plumbing and HVAC issues to flood prevention and electrical work.
Nearly every school in Ontario has a laundry list of outstanding repairs. The TDSB lists outstanding repairs by school.
Our want our kids to learn in safe and well-maintained buildings, where the washrooms work, they’re accessible, energy efficient, and there’s energy-efficient and effective heating and cooling so kids are warm in winter and cool enough in summer. That's what every parent, student, teacher, and staff person expects.
I encourage you to send a picture of the repairs that need to be done at your school to the new Minister of Education Jill Dunlop and ask her to invest the funding needed to fix our schools, instead of just talking about it. Minister Dunlop can be contacted at [email protected]. Please cc-us at [email protected].