Extra funding allocations announced for local school boards

Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer tonight announced $4.2 million in increased funding to the Algoma District School Board for special education, salary benchmarks and student transportation.

Witmer also announced $1.7 million in new money for the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board.

The following is the full text of tonight's announcement:

**************************************************************** Education funding in Northern Ontario increases by $39 million

TORONTO, Dec. 13 - The Ernie Eves government has made an historic investment in publicly funded education this week and students in Northern Ontario will benefit from an estimated $39 million in increased funding for local school boards for special education, salary benchmarks and student transportation, Deputy Premier and Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer announced today.

"The Eves government is keeping its promise to invest in quality education for all students, no matter where they live in Ontario," Witmer said.

"We've increased funding yet again to help Northern Ontario schools ensure our children receive the education they need to succeed."

Schools in Northern Ontario will benefit from:

- $12 million in increased special education funding;

- $25 million to salary benchmarks to support a positive and stable learning environment for students; and

- $2 million for student transportation.

These investments come on the heels of the publication of the report of the Education Equality Task Force that confirmed the effectiveness of the government's student-focused funding formula.

The government announced that it would act immediately to address the recommendations of the Task Force. The Eves government will continue to implement its plan for Ontario's education system and will use the recommendations of the Task Force to build on the success of its funding formula.

This week's announcements are important steps in putting more resources in the classroom. Since April 2002, the Ernie Eves government has committed more than $1 billion in new spending for education province-wide.

"Student-focused funding is just one part of our plan for quality education," said Witmer.

"We have set high standards for our students and are committed to providing the resources to help all students meet the challenges of the new curriculum."

"This is great news for students in the North," said Jim Wilson, Minister of Northern Development and Mines.

"Our funding formula is fair to Northern Ontario and this additional funding will help ensure northern students have the same resources and opportunities as other Ontario students."

"The Eves government will continue to work with school boards and other partners to help carry out the recommendations of the Education Equality Task Force.

It will build on the strengths of student-focused funding to improve fairness, certainty and stability for Ontario's students."

List of Northern boards

- DSB Ontario North - $3,616,811 - Algoma DSB - $4,237,868 - Rainbow DSB - $3,914,768 - Near North DSB - $5,033,551 - Keewatin-Patricia DSB - $2,464,571 - Rainy River DSB - $822,729 - Lakehead DSB - $2,516,865 - Superior-Greenstone DSB - $654,445 - Northeastern Catholic DSB - $1,223,587 - Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic DSB - $1,205,576 - Huron-Superior Catholic DSB - $1,733,050 - Sudbury Catholic DSB - $1,417,313 - Northwest Catholic DSB - $528,491 - Kenora Catholic DSB - $261,496 - Thunder Bay Catholic DSB - $2,346,421 - Superior North Catholic DSB - $207,663 - CSD du Nord-Est de l'Ontario - $297,572 - CSD du Grand Nord de l'Ontario - $1,019,582 - CSD catholique des Grandes Riviéres - $1,955,996 - CSD catholique Franco-Nord - $1,270,931 - CSD catholique du Nouvel-Ontario - $1,989,803 - CSD catholique des Aurores boréales - $173,552

Backgrounder

Ernie Eves Government invests $610 million in education

During the week of December 9-13, the Ernie Eves government announced another step in its plan for quality education - a historic investment of $610 million in special education, funding for salary increases to help school boards and unions put students first and avoid labour disruptions, and student transportation. This new funding represents the start of the government's response to the report of Dr. Mordechai Rozanski's Education Equality Task Force. Since April 2002, the Ernie Eves government has committed more than $1 billion in new spending for education.

Help for students with special needs

The Eves government is keeping its promise to make special education a priority and support students with special needs by investing an additional $250 million yearly in special education.

This will be a permanent increase of 18 per cent.

The Eves government will be providing approximately $1.6 billion per year for special education - more than any other government in Ontario's history.

Special education funding will have increased by almost 40 per cent since student-focused funding was introduced in 1998. Through student-focused funding, special education funding is protected - school boards must spend this funding on special education programs and services.

Putting students first and avoiding labour disruptions

The Ernie Eves government is investing $340 million to provide sufficient resources so school boards and unions have the flexibility to reach collective agreements without any interruptions in the classroom.

This will ensure a positive and stable learning environment for students in Ontario schools. The $340 million investment covers the cost of a 3 per cent increase in the salary benchmarks in student-focused funding.

This increase is consistent with recent collective agreements reached with health and public administration workers.

As the employer, each school board negotiates actual salary increases with its teachers and staff and their bargaining agents.

Safe, effective and accessible transportation

In the 2002 Ontario Budget, the Ernie Eves government announced that an additional $20 million would be committed to assist with student transportation costs annually.

This adjustment brought the total estimated Transportation Grant for the 2002-03 school year to $631 million.

The $20 million will be allocated to school boards to:

- support training all students on bus safety; - supplement wheelchair-accessible transportation; - enable boards to establish and run transportation partnerships to provide co-operative delivery of transportation services; and - help meet increased costs.

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