A new interactive online map from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) spells out how the Ontario government’s cuts to education funding are affecting the finances of each of the province’s 72 school boards. This comparison doesn’t capture all the changes that will affect the education sector.
The CCPA’s analysis compares provincial school board operating funding estimates for the 2019-20 school year to funding for 2017-18. Across the province, per-student funding has been reduced by $375 on average, or three per cent in real terms (adjusted for inflation).
The percentage change in real total operating funding for individual school boards ranges from cuts of six per cent to increases of five per cent. Trillium Lakelands DSB (down 6.5 per cent) and York Catholic DSB (down 6.3 per cent) are seeing the highest percentage cut in total operating grants.
The Economic Case for Investing in Education, a report prepared by the Conference Board of Canada for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation last June, suggests that increases in public education spending have a positive impact on the province’s economic performance. http://bit.ly/32FHGRV