OTTAWA – Chandra Pasma, Official Opposition NDP Education critic, issued the following statement in response to today’s meagre investment in Ontario’s students:
“There’s no disagreeing that Ontario’s students deserve more support to help develop their math, reading and writing skills.
But today’s announcement is a day late and a dollar short. School boards are close to finalizing their budgets for the next school year. $181 million isn’t going to make up for three years of disrupted learning and the cuts that this government is forcing boards to make.
This is less than 50 cents per student.
Add to that the fact that this government failed to get their planned $432 million for education out the door this year by the third quarter. And Minister Lecce still refused to answer if the Conservative government would stop the planned layoffs of thousands of teachers and education workers because of their underinvestment in our students. How will these layoffs help students in need?
When the Ontario NDP proposed a solution to help students catch up by reimbursing school boards for their pandemic-related expenses, Ford’s Conservatives said no.”