September 22nd, 2020

Minister telling parents to consider private school sends scary message, undermines public schools: NDP

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Education critic Marit Stiles made this statement in response to a report from the Orangeville Banner that staff in the constituency office of Ontario’s Solicitor General, Conservative MPP Sylvia Jones, told a family concerned about sending their child back to a classroom of about 30 children they should consider private school:

“Parents across Ontario, like the Belissimo family cited in the Orangeville Banner, are rightly concerned about sending their children back into ballooning classrooms where social distancing simply won’t be possible. By refusing to fund safer, smaller classrooms to protect students and school staff against the spread of COVID-19, Doug Ford is forcing families into a frightening spot.

The Solicitor General’s office telling a scared family they should consider private schooling undermines our public schools and raises questions about why the Ford government is holding back needed funding for physically-distanced classes. Does the minister believe only families with big bank accounts should be able to keep their kids safe?

Schools are funded on a per-student basis, so every student the Ford government successfully convinces to go to private school helps Doug Ford go back to cutting education funding and firing teachers and education workers.

We need to invest in public schools and children, not undermine them."