Ontario To Lose Over 10,000 Teaching Positions Due To Ford’s Changes

According to The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, the Ontario government’s funding cuts will lead to around 10,000 fewer teachers in the education system.

The Ministry of Education (EDU) is projected to spend $31.6 billion in 2019-20. Over the next five years, ministry spending is projected to slow to 1.0 per cent average annual growth. In contrast, education core cost drivers are projected to increase to 2.7 per cent average annual growth as the population will more than double from 2018 to 2023. 

Due to the increase in growth and decrease in spending, the province has announced that they will increase class sizes and propose legislation to limit public sector compensation growth.

The financial watchdog compared the new class size targets and Teacher Job Protection Fund against the old class size targets and states: 

• In the 2019-20 school year, there will be an estimated 2,826 fewer teachers (967 elementary teachers and 1,859 secondary teachers)
• By the 2023-24 school year, there will be 10,054 fewer teachers (994 elementary teachers and 9,060 secondary teachers) in the education system
• The effective average secondary class size will be 22.9 students per teacher in the 2019-20 school year, rising to 24.6 in 2020-21, 26.7 in 2021-22 and 28.0 in 2022-23, when the new class size targets will be achieved

What do you think about this new information?