-

Ontario’s school boards need funding and accountability, not random Conservative schemes: CUPE Ontario

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With Ontario’s Minister of Education doubling down on creating chaos across the province’s school boards – and undermining local democratic control in the process – CUPE Ontario is reminding the government that Ontarians blame Conservatives’ underfunding, not school board trustees, for cuts in schools and the continuing lack of services for students.

Commenting on Minister Paul Calandra’s latest announcement of the creation of “student and family support offices" for school boards, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn was adamant: “The move to eliminate school board trustees is typical of the Ford government playbook: distract from failings by blaming someone else.

“Minister Calandra can pretend that Ford Conservatives haven’t denied students and parents vital education funding for the services they need, but Ontarians aren’t fooled. They know the government is scapegoating school boards to divert attention from its chronic and deliberate underfunding for education.”

A recent poll by Abacus Data for CUPE Ontario confirmed that most Ontarians hold the Ford Conservatives – not their local school board trustees – responsible for the cuts to public education and the lack of support services in schools across the province.

The public opinion survey also showed that Ontarians value their trustees, who are democratically elected to represent communities’ and parents’ interests. But instead of working with trustees in the school boards it has put under supervision and ensuring that money is available for much-needed programs, the Ford government has appointed five unaccountable “school supervisors” who can bill school boards up to $350,000 a year for their services and claim up to $40,000 in expenses.

“The Ford Conservatives haven’t even been transparent about these costs that will come directly from school board budgets,” Hahn pointed out. “It took a freedom of information request from a media outlet to uncover the small detail about 40 grand in expenses.

“We can only guess at what other unwelcome surprises the Education Minister has in store for parents, students, and the people of Ontario; every week he seems to deliver a new boondoggle. But we will continue to work with those who demand accountability from this government.”

MU:cj/cope491

Contacts

For more information: Mary Unan, CUPE Communications, 647-390-9839 | munan@cupe.ca

Industry:

Canadian Union of Public Employees

Release Versions
English

Contacts

For more information: Mary Unan, CUPE Communications, 647-390-9839 | munan@cupe.ca

More News From Canadian Union of Public Employees

Health care workers decry 38 layoffs at Perley Health in Ottawa, to hold rally on Wednesday afternoon

OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health care staff represented by CUPE 870 will be holding a rally outside the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre to protest 38 job cuts at the residential care home, as workers demand better staffing levels to improve care. The cuts at the Perley are part of a wave of health care cuts across the province including at hospitals in Ottawa, Hamilton, Niagara and North Bay. CUPE is blaming the provincial government for insufficient funding as the Financial Accountabi...

Hybrid Works! CUPE Members at Ontario Health atHome Stage a Province Wide Day of Action on the First Day of Doug Ford’s Return to Office Mandate

Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hybrid works. Since before the pandemic, workers at Ontario Health atHome have been working remotely to help deliver the essential home-care services Ontarians need. Now, on the whims of the Ford government, these workers are being forced back into office spaces that are not equipped to handle them all at once. Available office spaces have shrunk since 2019, which has resulted in an uneven application of the return to office mandate in the various regions across the pr...

CUPE members at Ontario Health atHome to hold province wide day of action to protest Doug Ford's return to office mandate

ONTARIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hybrid works. Since before the pandemic, workers at Ontario Health atHome have been working remotely to help deliver the essential home-care services Ontarians need. Now, on the whims of the Ford government, these workers are being forced back into office spaces that are not equipped to handle them all at once. Available office spaces have shrunk since 2019, which has resulted in an uneven application of the return to office mandate in the various regions across the pr...
Back to Newsroom