For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
BUDGET SMOKE AND MIRRORS COVERS UP EDUCATION CRISIS:
OSSTF/FEESO RESPONDS TO 2024 ONTARIO BUDGET
TORONTO, ON — The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) calls out the Ford government’s 2024 provincial budget for distracting away from the retention and recruitment crisis in education.
“This is the Ford government’s sixth budget since taking office, which makes six budgets that have intentionally underfunded public education and deliberately shortchanged Ontario students,” said OSSTF/FEESO President Karen Littlewood. “The Progressive Conservatives claim to care about student needs, yet they have allowed a retention and recruitment crisis to take hold across Ontario, negatively impacting schools and students in every district in the province. Principals, teachers, and education workers are calling out for something to be done, yet their calls continue to be ignored.”
Despite the government’s repeated claims of historic education investments, the 2024 budget only provides a 2.7 per cent projected increase to the education budget compared to last year’s spending, which is lower than inflation and does not account for rising enrollment. What they portray as an increase is actually a cut. The province also ignored all 33 of our pre-budget recommendations and have not included anything that would address the staffing crisis in education.
The increases are even more miniscule when it comes to post-secondary education funding. This budget is a mere 0.1 per cent higher than last year’s budget and will not even begin to resolve the severe financial concerns of Ontario’s universities and colleges. Ontario is currently last among all provinces in per pupil funding at the post-secondary level. The government’s own blue-ribbon panel called for more investments in the sector, calls that the Progressive Conservative government has for the most part ignored.
“Politics is all about choices,” added Littlewood. “The Premier and his government continue to choose to put students last, and this budget is no different. They’ve ignored the severe underfunding of elementary and secondary schools as well as in post-secondary education, which has contributed to an acute staffing crisis, rising violence in classrooms, and significant cuts to special education programming across the province. And it’s Ontario’s most vulnerable students who pay the highest price for this government’s faulty choices.”
Earlier this week, a report titled ‘Staff shortages a daily issue for many Ontario schools’ was released. The report surveyed Ontario principals and found that more than a quarter of Ontario’s schools experience teacher shortages every single day, and almost half experience daily shortages for education assistants.
Recruitment and retention were found to be even more serious in secondary schools, with 35 per cent of secondary schools reporting that they face daily shortages of teaching staff and 46 per cent facing daily shortages of education workers. Principals identified a lack of investment in public education plus low wages as root causes of the recruitment and retention crisis.
“Today was a critical opportunity for this government to address the very serious issues that the Progressive Conservatives have either created or allowed to worsen in Ontario schools,” concluded Littlewood. “Every day, schools are forced to operate in an environment where staffing is insufficient, violent incidents are more likely to happen, and many special needs students are unable to receive the supports they need to learn successfully. Every student in Ontario deserves full and equitable access to a high-quality education. My question for the Premier is, what are you going to do to stop failing the students of Ontario?”
OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has over 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.
Contact: Caitlin Reid
Media and Communications Advisor
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Caitlin.Reid@osstf.ca
416-576-8346
JOINT STATEMENT
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association (OECTA), and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO)
issued the following statement today in support of the decision by the Ontario Teachers’
Federation (OTF) not to extend the re-employment limit for retired teachers and administrators
from 50 to 95 days. Students, families, and educators need a real solution to the teacher
recruitment and retention crisis, not more band-aids and half-measures:
“This is an emergency – a crisis that the Ford Conservative government is refusing to address.
Ford and his government are actively exacerbating the crisis by their refusal to invest in publicly
funded education, their obvious disdain for the teaching profession and its importance, failed
policies and unconstitutional wage suppression legislation, and their willful ignorance of the
supports and resources students, teachers, and education workers need to succeed.
This government is more than willing to let students pay the price for its continued failures. As
teachers and parents have seen firsthand across the province, more and more classes are
being combined, covered by unqualified and uncertified adults, or even outright cancelled. All of
this jeopardizes the learning environment and takes an extraordinary toll on students, teachers,
and education workers.
Students and school communities deserve far better. They deserve a real plan from this
government, with real consultation, collaboration, and investment to address the crisis.
Instead of investing in schools and meaningfully engaging with teachers and educators, the
Ford Conservative government is only interested in yet another band-aid solution – one that
does more to help the government’s public relations image than to support educators or the
students we serve.
Just like transitional certificates for teacher candidates who have not yet graduated, extending
the re-employment limit from 50 to 95 days for retired teachers and administrators is not
effective. The data proves that retired teachers are not picking up the jobs, and the problem is
only getting worse.
The crisis is not due to an actual shortage of teachers. Ontario has tens of thousands of
qualified individuals who are leaving the profession. And why are they leaving? Because the
Ford government refuses to address the root causes of the issue: the learning and working
conditions in Ontario schools coupled with the decade-long suppression of wages and
inadequate recognition of teachers’ credentials and expertise. This is especially acute for new
teacher graduates and occasional teachers who often deal with precarious and poorly paid
work. If the Ford Conservative government was serious about recruiting and retaining more
teachers, it would immediately make real investments in publicly funded education to address
compensation issues, growing violence in schools, make class sizes smaller, and improve
special education resources and supports, among other critical issues.
The Ford Conservative government has done none of these things, despite having the
resources at their fingertips. In fact, if this was a priority for them, the government could have
addressed this issue in central bargaining with the affiliates, but they failed to act on that
opportunity. Once again, teachers and education workers are leading the fight for students and
quality publicly funded education, in the face of government obstinance.
The solution to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis is to foster healthier schools and
workplaces for staff and students alike, which is where this government would be devoting its
time and energy if it really cared.”
For more information, please contact:
ETFO—Carla Pereira at 416-962-3836 ext. 2332 or cpereira@etfo.org
OECTA—Michelle Despault at 416-925-2493 ext. 509 or m.despault@catholicteachers.ca
OSSTF/FEESO—Caitlin Reid at 416-576-8346 or caitlin.reid@osstf.ca
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