An editorial entitled, “Ontario’s schools are falling apart. Here’s how to fix them.” was published in the Toronto Star on January 28, 2016. It examines how Ontario has arrived at a place where $15-billion of disrepair exists in our publicly funded schools and then goes on to explore how Premier Wynne’s government might consider solving the issue.
Authors Sachin Maharaj, PhD student, and Gordon Petch, lawyer, state that “of all the duties that educational leaders and policy-makers have, ensuring that schools are safe is arguably the most important.” Given that 2-million Ontario children spend their days in school buildings, ensuring safe, well-maintained schools should be of paramount importance to Premier Wynne. However, Wynne’s government continues to blame school boards for disrepair, refusing to take any accountability for Ontario’s schools falling apart. Ironically, Ontario’s own Auditor-General has confirmed that our provincial government has underfunded school repairs by $5.8-billion over the last five years.
When will Premier Wynne start to prioritize schools as important public infrastructure and Fix Our Schools?