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.
I have a lot of concerns with these signs. Let me explain.
First, based on correspondence with the Ministry of Education and the TDSB, it appears the Ministry is forcing school boards to spend millions of taxpayer money earmarked for education on printing and posting these signs, at a time when schools are being forced to do more with less.[1]
The TDSB estimates they are spending a $1000 on each sign for a total figure of $400,000. If all the school boards are posting about the same number of signs at the TDSB, then school boards could be spending more than $3M a year on partisan advertising.
Second, taxpayer money is being used to create a favourable impression of a government, as an early election looms. This is partisan advertising using taxpayer dollars.
Third, these signs convey a very misleading message, as they imply the government is doing something to fix and build schools to an acceptable standard. This is just not true.
Ministry documents show overall funding to repairing schools has remained at $1.4B a year, which means funding for capital programs has been cut, when inflation and growing student enrollment is factored in.
This table is from a Legislative Assembly of Ontario report on education funding produced on September 26, 2024.
Fourth, this funding is still a massive $16B short of what is needed to keep Ontario’s schools in a state of good repair.
Take Jesse Ketchum School on 61 Davenport Road, Toronto as an example of how this funding shortfall is playing out. Government capital funding will be used to repair the school's boiler, but the school still has 47 outstanding urgent repairs, ranging from plumbing and HVAC issues to flood prevention and electrical work. Many older schools across Ontario are facing a similar repair backlog.
Every parent and teacher know 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 to help them succeed in the classroom.
Parents do not appreciate dropping their children off at a school with broken washrooms, lead in the drinking water, and no air-conditioning, and they certainly do not appreciate having to walk by a sign implying that everything is fine.
Our kids should be learning in safe and well-maintained buildings. These are buildings where the washrooms work, they’re accessible, 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.
We are calling on the Ford government to match their actions with their message and properly invest in building and fixing Ontario’s schools by providing an additional $16B to the school capital program.
We're also calling on the Ford government to reimburse school boards for the cost of putting up these signs.
I've written a letter to the Minster of Education Jill Dunlop asking her to take action. Parents, teachers, students and staff, I encourage you to send a message to the Minister as well @ [email protected].
[1] 2024: SB04 requires Ontario Builds signage for new build infrastructure projects, with all related costs incurred by the school board as a capital expense. The TDSB has reported its estimated costs on Page 208 of the Capital Update report presented to the Finance, Budget, and Enrolment Committee in June 2024.