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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06a Review of Draft Submission to the Standing Committee Finance and Economic AffairsChairs' Committee 30 January 07 item 6A) Revised OTTAWA'CARLLTON Presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs 31 January 2007 The Ottawa - Carleton District School Board anticipates a funding shortfall of $27.7M for the coming school year. We are one of five boards already recognized by the Ministry of Education as being at the leading edge of a growing public education funding crisis in Ontario. By co`r`e aGGOUntS Our board is receiving less per pupil funding in constant dollars per student today than it had ten years ago. (include actual quote from Hugh McKenzie Report and footnote) Without significant changes to the structure of education funding in Ontario, many more school boards across this province will face increasing funding shortfalls over the next two years, and students will suffer the effects of precipitous forced cutbacks. The root of this financial crisis is the chronic under - funding of the salary and infrastructure costs of Ontario school boards. Current provincial grants for education still do not cover the actual costs for teacher salaries, benefits, facility maintenance and new school construction. For the 2006 2007 onheel year, the estimated QGDSB salary and benefit gap 4s. $3 (delete) (Mention Rozanski points here ) This government has not implemented the spirit of the Rozanski report which called for each point of the funding formula to cover the actual cost of delivering each contemplated service. We appreciate the government's recent acknowledgement that a salary gap exists, and we recognize that the government has moved funding between envelopes to reflect boards' stopgap solutions and improve funding transparency. Nevertheless, shifting dollars from one envelope to another does not solve the problem. The dollars shifted towards salaries were the same dollars that were supposed to be available to local boards to support our neediest students. The very students whose needs most justify having a public education system in the first place, have seen dollars intended to support their learning and achievement redirected in order to artificially eliminate the salary gap. We recognize that our students benefit from new funding in the form of one time special - purpose grants tied to new Ministry initiatives. Nevertheless, we are gravely concerned that the core costs of the education system remain under- funded, while our need for funding and flexibility to address the local needs and priorities of our students continues to be ignored. A provincial "one size fits all" education agenda should not take precedence over the authority of local school boards to address the actual needs and priorities of the students we serve. Declining enrolment across Ontario presents very significant challenges to the government and to individual school boards. Moreover, enrolment decline is unevenly distributed, even within a single school district. In the OCDSB, with our significant urban, suburban and rural components, we are dealing with a set of very complex issues such as school locations and accessibility, class size, program viability, and teaching strategies. The pressures created by unevenly distributed declining enrolment are best addressed through flexibility in local education spending. In Ottawa, we not only lack local flexibility, but also lose grant funding as enrolment declines. It was bad enough that our declining enrolment grant was reduced by approximately $4 million percentage decline amount instead for this school year, but it is even more of a concern that continued funding inadequacies impair our ability to serve our high - growth areas and accelerate our loss of enrolment to other school boards in communities where we don't have capital funds to provide needed new schools. Our OCDSB Position Paper on Education Finance, attached, provides more specific details on the magnitude of the challenges we are facing, together with some very specific recommendations for change. Also attached is a copy of our Management Plan which highlights the severity of the reductions required in order to balance our budget over two years. This committee has a unique opportunity to influence provincial spending priorities. We respectfully request your assistance in helping the government to understand the crisis that is looming in public education. If this government is indeed the education government, then it must: • Fund the true costs of education by eliminating the gaps in salary, benefit and facilities benchmarks, in accordance with the principles of the Rozanski Report renemmendatiens made in 2002. • Address the rising costs of transportation and special education services • Stop the one -time special purpose grants and put all of the money for education on the table Presenters: Chair Rob Campbell, Vice -Chair Lynn Scott, Director of Education Dr. Lorne Rachlis Chairs' Committee 30 January 07 item 6A) Revised OTTAWA'CARLLTON Presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs 31 January 2007 • Deliver grant information, structured to provide adequate funding, in March so that school boards have sufficient time to develop a balanced budget Our students deserve a fully funded education system, with funding levels based on student needs. Our society depends on it. Our government has the ability to deliver it. You have the opportunity to show them how. Presenters: Chair Rob Campbell, Vice -Chair Lynn Scott, Director of Education Dr. Lorne Rachlis