The NDP’s Education Critic find it disturbing.
That is Chandra Pasma’s reaction to the talk from Premier Doug Ford and his Minister of Education Paul Calandra about the potential of eliminating school board trustees.
Pasma says it is another move by the Ford government to dismantle democracy.
“If the minister is going to get rid of trustees, then what we’re talking about is a scenario where it’s the Minister of Education from Queen’s Park in downtown Toronto who is making all of the decisions for our kids’ schools,” says Pasma.
“The minister is not going to consult with parents across the country. The minister doesn’t know the reality on the ground for people in different parts of the province. And the minister is not accountable to us.”
Pasma says trustees serve as the voice of parents in our children’s schools and are accountable to parents and taxpayers.
She says families deserve local representation that knows their communities and can stand up for students and parents.
Pasma feels the focus on trustees is just further attempts by the Ford government to distract from the real issues facing education.
“This is a government that has done everything they can repeatedly to distract from the fact that they’re cutting funding for our children’s education and that it is having severe consequences for our kids,” says Pasma.
The government promotes the fact that it is spending over $30 billion on education for this school year.
Pasma says adjusting for inflation, schools are receiving less on a per-student basis than they did in 2018 when the Progressive Conservatives came to power.
She notes that the Ministry of Education’s documents show 40% of school boards are running a deficit.
