"Roughly 1 in 12 schools in Ontario have the same roof panels that forced the Ford government to urgently close the science centre but, according to internal documents, boards & trustees are being offered no specific funding to manage the cost of replacement and repair." #OnPoli#OntEd
The Ford government shut the science centre after receiving a report into RAAC panels in its roof. Schools with the same issues aren't getting special funding to replacement them.
An increasing number of Ontario school boards are reporting deficits and are using or even depleting their reserves, according to internal Ministry of Education briefing documents. #onpoli#onted
The association representing school boards in the province says that, while the PC government has boosted the education budget, increases have not kept pace with inflation.
Maybe years of vilifying teachers, slashing public school budgets, not investing in growth, & using partisan politics to influence what gets taught in classrooms has dampened the enthusiasm of anyone interested in teaching as a profession. #onpoli#ontedwww.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
โOngoing moratorium means boards are spending their limited school renewal funding on maintaining and operating schools that may otherwise have closed,โ reads one line of the internal documents, obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws." #OntEd
Documents written for Ontarioโs education minister admit a moratorium on closing schools is stretching the already thin budgets boards have to manage to breaking point.
Who's responsible when lead-tainted water shows up in Ontario schools? "Public officials tend not to be very willing to open up on it, because it's not an easy fix," Robert Cribb tells @spaikin.bsky.social#onted#onpoli
Ontario is staring down a teacher shortage as retirements and student enrolment are both on the rise, and the Ministry of Education expects the situation will start to get even worse in 2027. #onted#onpoli
Retirements and student enrolment are both on the rise, and the Ministry of Education expects the situation will start to get even worse in three yearsโ time.
Global FOIed the new minister's briefing binder. โModelling projects that student enrolment over the coming years is expected to increase along with teacher retirements, while the supply of new teachers is to remain stable, absent intervention." #OntEd
Documents prepared to brief the education minister predict a growing population and retirements will lead to a growing gap between the number of teachers and students in Ontario.
"You have teachers and education workers who are taking advantage of back-to-school deals at Staples, because they are the ones providing supplies in their classrooms," โ Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachersโ Federation #onted#onpoli
Across the province, teachers are working in makeshift classrooms, and boards are challenged to find the funding to support a growing student population.