Election: Why should parents fund-raise for our schools?

NEWS RELEASE

JEFF ARBUS NDP CANDIDATE SAULT STE. MARIE

************************* NDP key commitment: Stop forcing parents to fund-raise for school essentials A fair deal: making sure all kids get the education they deserve

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – Sault Ste. Marie NDP Candidate Jeff Arbus says every child has a right to an excellent school, properly staffed with the programs they need to learn.

Today, Arbus outlined Howard Hampton’s latest key commitment – to stop forcing parents to fund-raise for school essentials.

“Hardworking families shouldn’t have to face the burden of raising hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for essential services in their children’s schools,” Arbus said.

“The broken school funding formula is forcing school boards to make more cuts every year to balance their budgets and our children’s education is suffering. Classes are overcrowded, special education and ESL classes are being cut, the number of teachers and teaching assistants are being reduced, arts sports and after school programs are being cancelled,” said NDP leader Hampton.

Arbus said that by breaking his promise to fix the funding formula, Dalton McGuinty has dumped millions of dollars in costs on to parents.

Parents fundraised $515 million in 2005-06 often to pay for essentials, including teacher salaries, educational assistants, textbooks, science labs and gyms.

The NDP would make sure schools have the resources they need by carrying out an annual public review of the funding formula – led by an all-party standing committee on education – as McGuinty promised to do four years ago but never delivered.

The NDP would also stop making parents reach into their own pockets to pay for school essentials by restoring the local priorities grant and funding it the way the Education Equality Task Force recommended – at a rate of $200 per student.

Children with autism will also get the support they deserve – the NDP will fund intensive behavioural intervention (IBI) services in classrooms and clear the waiting list for autism services.

“Dalton McGuinty got it wrong when he broke his promise to fix the school funding formula. New Democrats will get it right and make sure that all kids have an equal start and get the education they deserve,” said Arbus.

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