Since Fix Our Schools began in 2014, we’ve worked to ensure that school disrepair receives regular media attention. In fact, media coverage has been critical over the past five years in raising general awareness of the poor conditions that plague Ontario’s publicly funded schools and has also been critical in building the momentum and pressure that has allowed the Fix Our Schools Campaign to achieve:
- More funding (10X more provincial funding goes to school repairs today than it did when we started in 2014!);
- Increased transparency (the province now releases disrepair data on every publicly funded school in the province!);
- A commitment from 58 elected MPPs to develop a standard of good repair for Ontario’s publicly funded schools and to provide the adequate, stable funding required for all Ontario schools to meet that new standard by 2022.
Here is a sample of media coverage the past couple of years:
August 31, 2022: Ontario school repairs backlog reaches $16.8-B on CityTV News Toronto
May 24, 2022: Pushing Ontario to Fix its Massive School Repair Backlog
May 6, 2022: Whitby investment goes to a new school but not to cost-efficient repairs
April 21, 2022: Ontario announces $500M for school, child-care projects on CBC News
March 4, 2022: Let’s fix Sherwood Secondary School on Hamilton Mountain
February 2, 2022: Back to school in Ontario: HEPA filters and what better leadership looks like
January 27, 2022: ‘It’s disrespect,’ says Toronto school advocate of province’s latest school closure
Nov. 26, 2021: The TDSB is “land rich and cash poor” – could $1B in real estate sales help fix crumbling schools? on CBC Toronto
Sept. 13, 2021: Even with upgrades and extra filters, classrooms aren’t getting equal air quality, experts say on CBC Toronto
Sept. 9, 2021: TDSB repair backlog piling up with no solution in sight on CBC Toronto
Sept. 7, 2021: Toronto schools face $4.7B repair backlog on CityNews
July 24, 2021: Back to school plans by Ford government insufficient amidst a pandemic on CBC Toronto
April 26, 2021: Some Durham region parents have until May 4 to decide on fall enrolment, on CTV Toronto
December 7, 2020: Calls for better ventilation to reduce COVID-19 risk in schools on The Current, on CBC National Radio
December 7, 2020: Focus on improving ventilation in schools ‘a silver lining’ of pandemic, says parent on CBC News
September 28, 2020: Ontario is needlessly handcuffing TDSB’s ability to repair and build schools in the Toronto Star
September 22, 2020: Other Ontario school boards can collect millions from developers – but not the TDSB in the Toronto Star
September 13, 2020: Canada’s schools need better air ventilation. Amid coronavirus, it could save lives in Global News
September 8, 2020: Major projects not a priority for $50M spend on school air quality upgrades in the Daily Commercial News
August 29, 2020: Ontario school boards urged to spend air quality funding by Thanksgiving on CTV News
August 28, 2020: Ontario government urges school boards to use funding for improved ventilation by Thanksgiving in the Globe & Mail
August 28, 2020: See clip at 4:42 for news report on concerns over ventilation in schools on Global Toronto News
August 19, 2020: Critics question air quality as virus shuttered schools prepare to reopen in the London Free Press
August 15, 2020: What you need to know about ventilation as Ontario prepares for back to school in the age of COVID-19 on the front page of the Toronto Star
August 14, 2020: Ontario government facing pressure over back to school plan on Global National News
August 13, 2020: Back to school concerns on CTV National News
August 2, 2020: Fix Our Schools featured on The Goods Radio Show with Dahlia Kurtz on CFRA Ottawa
July 24, 2020: Doug Ford Quietly Removed $1-Billion in Planned Funding to Repair Ontario’s Schools in Press Progress
July 24, 2020: Fix Our Schools interviewed by Talia Ricci on CBC Toronto News
July 17, 2020: Walsh GM rallies support for five-day in-school education in the Daily Commercial News
February, 24, 2020: This Toronto public school could be beyond repair in Trnto.com
Here is a sample of media coverage from 2019:
December 10, 2019: Questions Remain about the Ford Government’s School Repair Funding in Press Progress
November 6, 2019: Repair backlog in Ontario schools hits $16.3 billion in the Toronto Star
October 31, 2019: $3.5 billion needed to repair Toronto’s crumbling schools in the Toronto Star
July 25, 2019: Fricker, Parry Sound are Near North’s top priorities in the North Bay Nugget
July 22, 2019: Government moves forward with school repair funding on CBC
May 13, 2019: Toronto District School Board facing 67.8-million shortfall in upcoming budget on Global News
May 9, 2019: Billions needed to fix crumbling Toronto schools on CityNews
April 1, 2019: Deteriorating Schools: What will it take to reduce the repair backlog? in Toronto.com
March 26, 2019: Dozens of Schools in Hamilton are in Disrepair on CHCH TV
March 25, 2019: Deteriorating Schools: Why are so many TDSB schools in need of repairs? in Toronto.com
March 25, 2019: Interview on Newstalk1010 highlighting the disrepair at Balaclava Elementary School in Carlisle, starts at around the 9-minute mark
March 20, 2019: Ontario Government Building Repair to Cost $1B while Liberals and NDP Call for Schools to be Fixed on CityNews TV
February 4, 2019: Daybreak South with Chris Walker Interview on CBC Radio One
January 31, 2019: Etobicoke Parent Network Regroups to Fight Against Cuts to Education in toronto.com
January 11, 2019: Moore in the Morning with John Moore Interview on Newstalk 1010 Radio
And here is a sample of Fix Our Schools media coverage from 2018:
March 19, 2018: “Fix Our Schools wants Province to Take Action on School Repair Backlog” on CBC Metro Morning with Matt Galloway
March 21, 2018: “Tales of School Lunch Chaos Hard for Parents to Swallow” in the Toronto Star
March 26, 2018: “Province Urged to Overhaul Flawed Approach to Funding Education” in the Toronto Starh
March 28, 2018: “Ontario Schols get $784M for Additions, New Buildings” in the Toronto Star
April 8, 2018: “Repair Backlog Puts not just Ontario’s Aging Schools at Risk, but also Our Unique Heritage” in the Toronto Star
April 9, 2018: “Parents Push for More Supervisors, Less Chaos in School Lunchrooms” in The Toronto Star
April 9, 2018: “Two Children Burned after Hot Asphalt Drips into Gymnasium at Toronto School” in the Globe & Mail
April 12, 2018: “Gas Leak Forces Students From Amherstburg School” on CBC News
May 24, 2018: “Durham School Board Chair Says Ontario’s Education Funding Doesn’t Work” in DurhamRegion.com
May 29, 2018: “Local Schools Face Nearly $1-Billion in Disrepair” in OttawaMatters.com
May 29, 2018: “Windsor-Essex Schools Need $400-Million of Repairs: Fix Our Schools” in CTV News – Windsor
May 30, 2018: “Parents Call on Next Ontario Government to Address Hot Classrooms Amid New Research Findings” on Global News
June 1, 2018: “Lack of Funding Leaves many London Schools Without Air Conditioning” on Global News
July 9, 2018: “Ontario PC Government Cancels $100-Million School Repair Fund” on Global News
July 10, 2018: “Fund for School Repairs Cut by Provincial Government” on CBC Metro Morning with Matt Galloway
July 15, 2018: “Ontario School Boards Shift Repair Plans in Wake of Funding Cuts” in the Globe & Mail
July 18, 2018: “Ontario Government Urged by Opposition to Address Needed School Repairs” on Global News
September 4, 2018: “Back to School With Doug Ford in Power” in Rabble.ca
September 5, 2018: “Schools are Falling Down Around their Students’ Heads” in the Toronto Star
September 5, 2018: “Ipsos Poll Finds Majority of Canadian Parents Want Air Conditioning in Classrooms” on Global News
September 5, 2018: “Parents Call for Action as Hot Weather Leads to Sweltering Classrooms” on Toronto City News
September 6, 2018: “Calls for Action as High Temperatures Lead to Sweltering Classrooms” in the Sudbury Star
September 7, 2018: “Does Your Child’s School in Caledon Have Air Conditioning?” on CaledonEnterprise.com
September 12, 2018: “Toronto School Infrastructure Needs Getting Lost in Shuffle” on Toronto.com
September 29, 2018: “City Election Offers Opportunity to End Starvation of Public Schools Advocates Say” on CBC News
October 18, 2018: “Broken Boiler at Toronto school highlights province-wide maintenance funding issue” on Global News