Stop Running Education Into the Ground: Education Coalition Demands Urgent Action From Doug Ford on Public Schools

/EIN News/ -- TORONTO, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Fund Our Schools Campaign held a press conference demanding that the Ford government stop the masking of invisible cuts to public education. Representatives from education unions across Toronto detailed the worsening conditions in Ontario schools, calling for an end to the diversion of school takeovers and immediate action to reverse the damage caused by years of cuts.

“They’ve run the car into the ground and now they’re taking the wheel,” said John Weatherup, President of Toronto Education Workers. “Over 40 School Boards are facing deficits. This government is accusing others of fiscal mismanagement, while they are underfunding our children by billions. We cannot allow this attack on our public schools to continue.”

Over the past seven years, Ontario’s students, teachers, and education workers have seen a significant decline in working and learning conditions, including:

• Larger class sizes that make individualized attention impossible
• Escalating violence in schools due to fewer support resources
• A $3 billion school funding shortfall—equal to $1,500 less per student this year
• A massive backlog of school repairs leaving students in deteriorating buildings
  
• Ongoing attacks on teachers and education workers, despite their efforts to keep the system afloat
  
• Safer classrooms for all our students and staff

“In 2005, Education Minister Paul Calandra was accused by his family of taking money from his own dying mother. The Ford government is now doing the same to Ontario school children,” said the Toronto & York Region Labour Council president Andria Babbington.

The Fund Our Schools coalition, which includes the Toronto & York Region Labour Council, Elementary Teachers of Toronto, OSSTF Toronto, and CUPE 4400 is calling for:

• Increased education funding to restore lost resources
• Immediate action to fix Ontario’s crumbling schools
• Better support for teachers, education workers, and students, including special education resources and smaller class sizes
  

For more information, visit www.fundourschools.ca.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Jennifer Huang
Toronto & York Region Labour Council
jhuang@labourcouncil.ca
416-886-4082