Education spending is a huge piece of the Ontario budget. Don Drummond’s long-awaited report on how to get Ontario back into the black doesn’t spare education.
Here are some of the main points from that report:
• Cap spending on education at 1% increase
• Consider cutting full day kindergarten
• Limit students’ time in high school or allow school boards to charge fees courses above 32 credits
• Cut 9,700 non-teaching staff such as educational assistants, child and youth workers, counsellors, library staff, and secretaries
• Cut 25% of non-salary funding, including things such as classroom supplies, computers, and textbooks
• Give boards the power to charge user fees for transportation
• Lift the caps on class sizes; 3 more in primary grades (23 from 20 now), 1.5 more in grades 4-8 (26 from 24.6), and 2 in high school (24 up from 22)
Read the report, and what People For Education say about it (hint: they don’t approve) here: http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/pfe-news/drummond-recommends-steep-cuts-in-education/