Earlier this month our new Progressive Conservative government, led by Premier Doug Ford, announced in a memo that a $100 million dollar school repair fund was being scrapped.
The fund, called The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, came from money made through the province’s cap-and-trade program, and was to be used for different energy-efficient updates to school buildings.
This decision has affected schools across the province, who already have a multi-billion dollar backlog of repairs needed.
Heather Loney, communications and community engagement for Guelph’s Upper Grand District School Board has shared that some work has already been contracted out under this fund for Guelph schools, but an unknown portion of the almost $800,000 allocated to Guelph schools will not be completed.
As a mother to three children, two who are school-aged, this has led me to conversations with other parents about the funding our school system receives, and how the “budget-cutting” Ford government will impact our school system, and especially our children.
I already believe that the school funding system is broken. The funding of schools across Ontario is a complex web to untangle, especially because we are one of three provinces that funds both public and Catholic (separate) schools, as well as French and English-speaking schools. In 1998 a new funding formula was created, with funds coming from municipal property taxes paid by residents, along with provincial funding.
I’ve still yet to fully wrap my head around school funding in Ontario. What I do understand is what I have experienced and seen as a parent of kids in Guelph. \
My children attend a school in a lower-income area of Guelph, and I have seen the difference between schools in wealthier neighbourhoods. Schools in affluent neighbourhoods often have the newest playground equipment, brand new library books, and extravagant extracurriculars. When I asked Guelph parents where these funds were coming from, many pointed to fundraisers held by the school and supported by parents and the surrounding community.
These are all things lacking in the school that my own children go to, a small school (the smaller the school, the smaller the funding too.) But the poorer the neighbourhood, the smaller the funding too.
Government funding isn’t the only way that schools are able to access funds to make improvements. Fundraisers or large donors also contribute to increased opportunities for students. Earlier this year we heard a lot about the large divide between arts funding across Ontario, with lesser privileged neighbourhoods having a much smaller arts fund. Fundraisers have contributed to a boost in arts funding, for the schools with the means to raise substantial amounts.
School fundraisers often allow schools access to programs or improvements that they can’t access otherwise, and I applaud the hard work and dedication of parents, teachers, and community members who work hard to create opportunities for students. But the fact remains that the schools in at-risk areas will raise substantially less than those in affluent areas, and this leads to the obvious disparity between schools in the same city, with unequal opportunities.
Budget cuts like Ford’s latest hurt us all, but it's the most marginalized and least privileged that it hurts the most. These are the schools that don’t have alternative routes, like fundraisers, to rely on.
Sometimes the first step we need to take in fighting the inequality is acknowledging it exists through conversation and discussion. From there we can work towards creating equal opportunities for all students, no matter what neighbourhood they live in.
