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While a threatened 2 per cent cut in overall funding didn’t materialize — grants remain at the same level as last year, at $22.5 billion — Michael Barrett said there are still several areas of concern.
“While it wasn’t as horrible as it could have been, there are still systemic issues that haven’t been dealt with — special education funding absolutely being at the top of it.”
At a time when the special education funding model “continues to deteriorate, the tendency is for boards to use un-enveloped dollars to meet the gap,” he said. “But with six more enveloped (or specific use) funds … the closing of that flexibility for boards means they’ll have to cut programs.”
He’s also worried about the government’s plan to penalize school boards that don’t close schools with excess space, while at the same time promoting the idea of turning buildings into community hubs, where extra room will be needed to offer services and programming to area families.
Some schools the province considers under-utilized are already offering programs because they have the space, he added, making the government’s stance “almost a contradiction.”
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario said it too is concerned about school closings, possibly “driving elementary schools and students into high school settings” as schools are merged to save money.
It also slammed the government for not providing enough supports for teachers as more special education students are integrated into mainstream classrooms.
Parents of special needs children in Toronto Catholic schools say they were warned that the board is looking at a .8 per cent cut in provincial funding, or $7 million — on top of a $20-million plus deficit created by staff error — and that services would be impacted.
Spokesperson John Yan said the board overspends by $21 million each year on special education to meet students’ needs and is now looking at a cut of $2.7 million from funding that is already inadequate.
The Toronto public board was still analyzing the numbers, but said it was pleased with an increase for school repairs, to $112 million.
In announcing the grants for 2015-16, Education Minister Liz Sandals said parents concerned about cuts to their children’s programs will have to talk to their boards.
“We spent $22.5 billion on education in Ontario last year, we’re spending $22.5 billion on education this year. That’s even though there will be less students,” she said.
Sandals also took a swipe at the troubled Toronto District School Board, noting “we want to make sure that the money is going to students not to empty space,” referring to the number of schools in the board the ministry considers underused.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said “it’s really obvious that the Liberals are cutting education. “Just in straight math, when you keep a budget the same, inflationary pressures mean that you’re actually cutting.”
A spokesperson for Sandals said students with special education needs are receiving approximately $2.72 billion for the 2015-16 school year under a "more fair and equitable" formula.
"School boards are responsible for using their total funding allocation to provide the special education programs and services to meet the needs of their students," said Nilani Logeswaran in a written statement.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/03/26/school-board-funding-stable-education-minister-says.html
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