Tag Archives: Premier Ford

Premier Ford: Get to Work Now!

April 27, 2021

Amidst a crushing third wave of COVID, Ontario students, families, teachers, and education workers are currently contending with the third shutdown of schools, and any in-person learning. Heart-breaking, overwhelming, disappointing, and stressful are just a few of the adjectives people have been sharing with us to describe how this feels. Ontario’s students deserve to get back to school and in-person learning as soon as safely possible.

What Could Have Been Done Differently?

While Fix Our Schools always endeavours to be forward-thinking and solution-oriented, we feel that a brief review of recent history is needed in order to learn, and move forward. And, recent history in Ontario clearly shows that our provincial government has consistently opted for inaction, the wrong actions, and downplaying the seriousness of COVID-19 instead of taking actions based on research, data, and the recommendations of its own Science Table and experts. Recent history also shows us that the Ford government has never truly prioritized the importance of publicly funded schools and education; and that our provincial government has never truly prioritized the health and well-being of Ontario’s students, families, teachers, and education workers.

In Spring 2020, a forward-looking provincial government could have taken the opportunity, while students learned at home, to conduct repairs and maintenance that can be challenging (and sometimes dangerous) to do while students are in school.

In May 2020, Fix Our Schools noted that “while it is clearly a challenging time in our education system, as students and teachers alike grapple with at-home learning, there would be a benefit to conducting construction projects in schools at this time. In recent years, the volume of reactive repairs needed at schools has necessitated that construction projects, such as roofing, often get done while students are trying to learn in these buildings. So a “silver lining” of this current pandemic situation, when children are absent from schools, is that many construction projects could get completed while these buildings are virtually empty.”

In Summer 2020, the Ford government could have listened to the science, research, and data presented and invested the funding that was actually required to ensure that physical distancing was possible in all classrooms, that all classrooms had adequate ventilation, and that every school had adequate caretaking staff for hand hygiene to be easily accessible and available. As early as June 2020, SickKids cited proper ventilation as an important element in any safe return to school plan. At that point, Fix Our Schools began collecting information from across Ontario about the state of ventilation in Ontario’s schools.

We heard from dozens of parents, educators, and education workers across the province with a myriad of issues pertaining to ventilation, including classrooms without windows, windows that do not open at all or that only open a tiny bit, and some older schools and portables without HVAC systems to bring in fresh air from outside. Fix Our Schools shared those details and urged citizens to contact Premier Ford, Minister Lecce, and their local MPP to request adequate funding to address ventilation issues in schools and classrooms. However, the Ford government provided only $50-million of funding for ventilation improvements ($10,000 per school) in August 2020 – months after SickKids first identified ventilation as a key aspect of a safe return to school. 

In Fall 2020, Ontario schools did open for in-person learning. However, a significant portion of families living in “hot spot communities”, where COVID rates were high, chose to keep their children home for online learning. Families made this difficult choice because the in-person learning options at local schools did not feel safe, knowing that community spread was significant. Throughout the Fall months, Minister Lecce and Premier Ford continued to claim Ontario’s schools were safe, without ever mentioning that their statistics relied heavily on families in hot spot communities keeping their children out of school to pursue online learning. This fact is rarely mentioned in media coverage of public education during the pandemic and represents yet another way in which marginalized communities have been disproportionately negatively impacted by the COVID pandemic.

In Winter 2021, our provincial government continued to ignore the recommendations of SickKids, medical professionals, public health professionals, education professionals, and, indeed, it ignored the recommendations of civil servants within the Ministry of Education when this government implemented only “half-measures” to ensure the safety of students and education workers in the classroom amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.  Instead, it chose to politicize the issue of safe, healthy schools in the midst of a pandemic, and continued to underfund Ontario schools and its education system, all the while claiming it prioritized Ontario’s children.

As Spring 2021 continues to unfold, we have seen Premier Ford and his government choose to cling to the same playbook of inaction, ignorance, and playing politics amidst a horrific third wave that has overrun our ICUs and shuttered our schools once again. As one member of the Ontario Science Table, Andrew Morris, said after Ford’s announcements on Friday, April 16, “It was mind-boggling. I’m still in shock“.  On April 20 2021 Ontario’s Science Table came forward with a very clearly articulated outline of what should have been done, and a clear plan for what still can be done to move forward and stem the tide of this crushing third wave.

The Way Forward

Doug Ford, please get to work on quickly implementing the recommendations clearly outlined by Ontario’s Science Table:

  1. Permit only truly essential indoor workplaces to stay open, and strictly enforce COVID-safety rules in those workplaces
  2. Pay essential workers to stay home when they are sick, exposed, and need time to get vaccinated
  3. Accelerate the vaccination of essential workers and those living in hot spots
  4. Limit mobility
  5. Focus on public health guidance that works, encouraging outdoor small gatherings, with physical distancing and masks
  6. Keep people safely connected, allowing people from different households to meet outdoors with masks and physical distance, and encouraging safe outdoor activities

Ontario’s children need to get back to school and in-person learning as soon as is safely possible. The ball is in your court Premier Ford. You’ve wasted critical weeks now on inaction, actions that make no sense or cause further harm, and on downplaying the health crisis in which we now find ourselves. The answers and the way forward have been presented to you time and again. Please step up now, and do what needs to be done to address the root causes of COVID spread and get Ontario’s students back to school.

Mandates, Money, and Just Plain Mean-Spirited

March 30, 2021

MANDATES

As the Liberal Party of Ontario continues to seek input to build their party platform, leader Steven Del Duca made an interesting announcement on Monday, March  22. He said that that his Liberals would “kill Highway 413 once and for all”, and redirect the $8-billion allocated to this infrastructure project of questionable value towards additional investment in building and repairing publicly funded schools in the province. Hurrah! This could be an education mandate that the Fix Our Schools campaign could certainly get behind, and we hope that all provincial parties will prioritize school infrastructure in their platforms. 

Speaking of mandates, the Globe & Mail’s revelation that the Ford government is “considering legislation that would make remote learning a permanent part of the public-school system” begs the question, “what was the PC party’s education mandate with which the Ford government was handed a majority government?” As Fix Our Schools noted back during the 2018 election, “the PC education platform was scant at best“, and made no mention of addressing the massive repair backlog in Ontario’s schools. Ford’s education mandate did, however, mention banning cell phones in class in order to maximize learning time. So, Ontario voted in a Premier that did not even want cell phones interrupting in-class learning time. Yet, after a year of emergency on-line learning, Premier Ford’s government is looking to fundamentally change the way education is delivered in this province without a mandate from the electorate, and without any understanding of the impact that this year of on-line learning has had on students.   

MONEY

Why is Fix Our Schools so concerned about this proposed legislation since our focus is on ensuring all Ontario schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings? Glad you asked! It is because the provincial budget delivered on March 24 provides no new money for education and schools. 

And so, every dollar “invested” in expanding online learning will actually take money away from school buildings, classrooms, and in-person learning. So, while Minister Lecce claims that parents want this “choice” of online learning, we must highlight that that this choice comes with a cost to the quality of in-person learning in this province.

Although, after seeing Minister Lecce try to explain the provincial budget’s impact on schools and public education, we’re not sure our Minister of Education understands how provincial funding of education actually works:

Further to this confusing statement by Minister Lecce, the budget document touts that, “investments in schools are investments in the future and contribute to the long-term economic prosperity of the province”. Yes! Fix Our Schools agrees! However, then the budget document states, “this is why the government is investing about $14 billion in capital grants over 10 years to build more schools, upgrade existing facilities across Ontario and support education-related projects. This includes $1.4 billion in school renewal for the 2021–22 school year, which will ensure excellent learning environments. As part of the government’s ongoing efforts to improve and modernize infrastructure, Ontario is investing $550 million in the 2020–21 school year to build 20 new schools and eight permanent additions to existing schools.”  OK. Stop right there. Are you as confused as we are about these statements?

Investing “about” $14-billion over 10 years equates to “about” $1.4-billion per year. I think we can all agree that math makes sense? What doesn’t add up is that the total amount being allocated only for school repair and renewal for 2021-22 is $1.4-billion. Yet, the budget document states that a separate amount of $550-million has been allocated for 2021-22 to build new schools and additions, which brings the total investment for 2021-22 to “about” $1.95-billion. So, if our math is correct, wouldn’t this yearly level of investment in schools require a 10-year commitment of “about” $19.5-billion, which is significantly more than the $14-billion mentioned? Does this mean that next year, we can expect a drastic cut? We’re simply not sure.

Furthermore, it is important to note that the $1.95-billion/year funding allocation for school infrastructure in 2021-22 is roughly the same amount as the previous several years. And, this level of funding has resulted in year-over-year increases in overall disrepair in Ontario schools. Therefore, with a $16.3-billion repair backlog in Ontario’s schools and no significant new funding, it is hard to imagine that $1.95-billion will somehow during this budget cycle lead to “excellent learning environments”?  Again, the math used in this budget document simply does not add up to Fix Our Schools, nor does the rosy picture Minister Lecce paints of “excellent learning environments” with no new investments.

AND JUST PLAIN MEAN-SPIRITED

Fix Our Schools became aware of this 3-page memo that was sent from the Ministry of Education to all school boards on March 8, 2021, letting school boards know they are “required to display Ontario Builds signage at the site of construction that identifies the financial support of the Government of Ontario” and that “all expenses related to Ontario Builds signage, such as design, production, and installation are the responsibility of the school board. School boards are also responsible for posting the signs in a prominent, high-traffic location in a timely manner.” 

This is a mean-spirited action by a government that, time and again, fails to prioritize students, schools, and our public education system. This is a provincial government that, instead, prioritizes self-promotion, and getting re-elected. Fix Our Schools would suggest that this money, time, and energy would be much better invested in actually repairing, renewing, and rebuilding Ontario’s publicly funded schools rather than on a marketing and promotion campaign for the Ford government.

Back-to-school “Plan” for Ontario’s 2-million Students

July 8, 2020

In the weeks since Education Minister Lecce announced the “plan” for Ontario’s 2-million children to return to school in September, many concerns have been raised by many people.

In a July 2, 2020 opinion piece in the Globe and Mail entitled, “Education is a human right, but it certainly hasn’t been a COVID-19 priority”, Lauren Dobson-Hughes states that, “Education is a human right. But you would not know this in most of Canada, where lockdowns are ending, people are returning to work, and patios and nail salons are open, all while parents are hearing that children might only be attending school a couple of days a week in the fall – if schools open at all.” She goes on to state that, “We must make the safe return to school a political and national priority.” Fix Our Schools wholeheartedly agrees with the notion that publicly funded education and schools must be prioritized. We have been advocating for safe, healthy, well-maintained schools in Ontario since 2014. Since late May of this year, we have been urging our provincial government to prioritize public education and schools in this province and to commit to the funding required for a safe, healthy return to school in September.

In a June 29, 2020 article in Today’s Parent entitled, “Ontario’s back-to-school plan ignores a glaringly obvious problem”  Kalli Anderson asserts that, “a truly responsible, proactive plan for the fall would include hiring more teachers and early childhood educators and working with municipalities to free up additional physical spaces, like community centres, that could be used for small-group learning. A truly ambitious, forward-thinking plan might involve experiments in outdoor education or other experiential non-classroom-based learning. If our government is actually concerned about children and families, it needs to invest now to avoid a cascade of further public health, education, and economic crises in years to come.” Fix Our Schools also agrees wholeheartedly that our provincial government must invest now and pursue an ambitious, forward-thinking plan to eliminate the almost $17-billion of disrepair that plagues Ontario’s schools and to pursue out-of-the-box solutions that could leverage outdoor learning and alternate spaces in the short-term.

As Fix Our Schools has maintained since 2014, our publicly funded schools are critical infrastructure. However, successive provincial governments have allowed over $16-billion of disrepair to accumulate in these buildings over the last several decades. The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that, with political will, previously unimaginable public resources can be found and allocated. Now is the time for political will to be applied to our publicly funded schools and education system and public funds prioritized to pursue ambitious, forward-thinking plans for Ontario’s schools.

For instance, let’s consider ventilation in Ontario’s schools. The SickKids report recommends that good ventilation in classrooms ought to be part of a safe plan to return to school. However, the sad fact is that many schools in this province have classrooms with no windows, windows that do not open, windows that only open a tiny bit, and overall bad ventilation. When Fix Our Schools called out to citizens to provide specific examples of ventilation concerns, we heard back plenty of examples from across the province. Arguably, children, teachers, and education workers would always have benefited from good ventilation in classrooms. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to emphasize the importance of good ventilation to learning and health. So again, let’s use this moment to exert the political will to make real change in how we prioritize and fund public education and schools in this province.

Ontario’s 2-million students need to know that the adults in charge are committed to their education, their mental health, and their development. Our economy also demands a prioritization of public education and schools. As our Education Minister said previously, “Our schools are a learning environment for 2-million students, and a workplace for almost 200,000 teachers and education workers. The re-opening of schools in a safe and effective way is essential for the development and mental health of our children, our economy, and our well-being as a province”

Fix Our Schools agrees with this quote from Minister Lecce. We will believe that his words actually mean something when we see his government commit to prioritizing public schools and education by allocating adequate, stable provincial funding.

Let Premier Ford Know that a Safe Reopening of Schools is a Priority!

June 26, 2020

If you want to see publicly funded education and schools in Ontario be prioritized to ensure a safe, effective return to school in September, we encourage you to click here and then click one more time to send a pre-written letter to Premier Ford and Education Minister Lecce requesting they:

  • Commit to providing the required funding for school boards to safely re-open in September
  • Work with local school boards and local public health officials to provide weekly updates to the public on the school re-opening/planning process
  • Commit to working with all key stakeholders, including local school boards, public health officials, teachers, education workers, principals, parents, and students to develop a commonly understood definition of “safe, effective return to school” and to leverage all stakeholders’ insights, experience, skills, and knowledge – which will be needed to get Ontario’s students back to school in September!  

Please include your MPP’s email address, your name, and your address before hitting send.

Back to School 2019 – First Time in Years Temperatures May Be Comfortable!

September 3, 2019

As students across Ontario prepare to head back to school this week, comfortable temperatures with daytime highs around 20 degrees are in the forecast for the first September in many years. This weather forecast will mean students, teachers and education workers will be learning and working in fairly comfortable temperatures for the first time in many years! Hurrah!

The vast majority of publicly funded schools across our province do not have air conditioning and the sweltering September temperatures of the past several years has meant unbearably hot class temperatures for many across the province. What a relief that this September, students, teachers and education workers alike can learn and work in comfort!

 

However, even with all the repairs and improvements that have been able to get done this past year at Ontario public schools thanks to stable provincial funding of $1.4-billion/year, the repair backlog at Ontario’s schools remains at a gobsmacking $15.9-billion. Photos of school disrepair vividly depict the types of environments Ontario students routinely face.

And, if we only look at Premier Ford’s riding of Etobicoke North, there is an alarming $178.4-million of disrepair in schools. This disrepair in Etobicoke North schools impacts students in myriad ways. At West Humber Collegiate, which needs $13.9-million of repairs, urgent items include:

  • Fire Alarm System renewal
  • Major Repair to Standard Foundations
  • Roofing

At Elmbank Junior Middle School, which needs $9.4-million of repairs, there are 21 repair items marked urgent!

More provincial funding is needed if we are ever going to eliminate the repair backlog in our children’s schools. In fact, economist Hugh Mackenzie suggests an additional $1.6-billion/year in provincial funding is required for the coming seven years if we are going to truly fix Ontario’s schools.