Yes. And there’s inflation too. Your budget went up. Your global budget went up, didn’t it? It’s inflation too.

Interjection.

There were 522 staffing positions that were cut. I get calls from parents, from vice-principals, from principals, from education workers about what these cuts actually mean on the ground. We’re hearing from schools like Palmerston, Clinton, Lord Lansdowne and da Vinci, and they’re losing vice-principals; they’re losing teachers who are specifically dedicated to do one-on-one reading help with kids who are falling behind in grades 1 and 2 and 3—those critical years when you need kids to catch up. We are also hearing from parents whose kids have special needs—kids who have autism; kids who need an extra educational assistant in the classroom to ensure that they can focus, that they can learn, that their behaviour is managed so that they’re not a big disruption in the classroom, so that every child can learn. What they’re also finding is that there are not enough educational assistants available in schools to provide that one-on-one support, that extra support in a classroom so that a teacher can do their job, kids can learn and the classroom functions well. They’re not there.

The Ontario Autism Coalition just did a survey which asked parents, “How many times is your kid denied access to school because there’s no educational assistant or extra support available to help your kid in the classroom?” The unfortunate reality today is that there are parents who wake up in the morning at 8 o’clock and they get a call from their school saying, “There’s not enough staffing supports in the school for your kid to go to school today, so you’re going to have to rearrange your schedule, because there’s no school available for your kid.” That’s what’s happening in Ontario in 2023, and it’s a direct result of funding cuts that have been brought on by the Conservative government. I think that’s a real shame.

If I had to describe this bill, I would call it meek. It is really smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t address the urgent needs in our educational system. It really doubles down on the Conservatives’ chronic underinvestment in our education system. It does nothing to address the overcrowded classrooms, the lack of specialized learning programs and the mental health needs of our students. It does nothing to address that, which I think is a real shame.

And what it does seem be very interested in, this bill, is taking power away from school boards to control properties and putting it in the hands of the Conservative government, specific ministries, who can then sell off lands to whoever they wish. Sure, there is a process; it must go to another school board first or be offered to them, but then it’s really opaque what the rules are, essentially, after that, and this is happening at a time when the Conservatives are selling off public land to the highest bidder in secret deals where there’s no requirement for that land to be developed in a way that would help the public. There’s no requirement to build affordable housing. There’s no community benefit. There’s no requirement to have good union jobs on-site so we can provide good jobs to people in Ontario. There’s no requirement for that.

And when I read Bill 98, what makes me worried is the Conservatives are potentially opening the door to allow the sale of school board properties to for-profit developers to build housing. And who’s going to be impacted by that, and who’s going to be neglected by that decision is our future students. The reason why our future students are going to be negatively impacted by that is because all school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, have been sounding the alarm right now and they’re saying very clearly, “We’re worried about our school board’s capacity to provide the classroom space that is needed to meet the growing enrolment projections—we’re worried about it.” The TDSB is worried about it. Other school boards are worried about it, and they fear, understandably, that school properties are going to be sold off without adequate consideration about what is needed to meet our school capacity in our future.

The reason why I say this is because our province is expected to grow. Ontario is expected to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years; that’s the target. In Toronto, we have a target of building 285,000 new homes, which will lead to a projected increase of 30,000 new kids into the school board system, and the TDSB already has an issue right now with overcrowding.

The member for Eglinton–Lawrence should know that around the area of Eglinton and Yonge, there are schools that don’t have the capacity to meet enrolment right now, and unfortunately, that’s largely to do with the Conservatives having a very Wild West approach to development, where development occurs based on where developers want to build and where they can get approvals. There’s no serious thought given into what kind of services current and new residents need in order to meet the needs and grow our city and make it a livable city. So what we’re seeing is highly concentrated growth in some areas and no schools, or inadequate schools, available to accommodate the new kids that are coming in. This is happening in my riding of University–Rosedale. It’s happening in Toronto–St. Paul’s. It’s happening in Parkdale–High Park, and it’s happening in a very acute way in the member for Spadina–Fort York’s riding where his riding has 140,000 people, one of the largest ridings in Ontario, and it’s growing extremely rapidly, yet the riding only has three schools—only three schools, for 140,000 people. It’s unregulated, it’s the Wild West, it’s disorganized, and I fear that Bill 98 is going to make it even easier for the Conservatives to say, “Oh, we’re under capacity over here. We’re just going to sell off those schools, build big on them and not think about what we need around future capacity.” I have some concerns about that.

I also have a lot of concerns around the failure of the Conservatives to address some of the biggest issues that we are experiencing in our schools today. One of the biggest issues that we’re hearing about is the pervasiveness of violence in our school system. A recent report came out from the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. It was disturbing to read, and it showed that "an alarming ... 77%" of members, 77% of teachers who filled in this survey, “say they have personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against another staff member.”

I’m going to quote: “Learning is being disrupted and violence is being normalized in schools because the” Conservatives refuse “to adequately invest in public education.” I see nothing in Bill 98 that is going to deal with this issue—nothing in it. “The system is suffering from chronic underfunding, under-resourcing, and understaffing, creating environments where student needs are going unmet.” That’s the reality of it, and I’m not seeing much in Bill 98 that addresses those fundamental issues.

When a kid is dropped off by their parents in the morning, they go in through the front door and they go into their classroom, there’s really not a lot in Bill 98 that is going to ensure they have a good day, a safe day, where they’re not going to be bullied or harassed; where the teacher and the educational assistant have time for them; where they meet their learning outcomes; where they have a good day where they’re safe, loved, well cared for and they can reach their full potential. I’m not seeing a lot in Bill 98 that’s going to allow us to achieve those goals and help the million-plus kids in Ontario have a good day at school. I’m just not.

I’m going to go back to what ETFO said, because this is really about what’s happening in the classroom. What this survey found is that:

“—Educators working with younger students are more likely to experience violence.

“—Eighty-six per cent of ETFO members who work in special education have personally experienced violence or witnessed it against another staff person.”

The reason why I bring up that issue is because it really gets to the failure of this government to address the huge staffing shortages we are experiencing in classrooms that need extra educational assistants, that need extra support workers, because they’re dealing with kids who have mental health challenges, who have a tough time, who have learning needs and need that extra support. They’re not setting teachers or a classroom up for success.

From the survey:

“—More than 80 per cent agree that violence in schools is making working with students more difficult and that it interferes with classroom management”—also not addressed with Bill 98.

“—Administrators know that violence is a problem, but do not always act on reports of violence.

“—Forty-two per cent of members have suffered a physical injury, illness or psychological injury/illness as a result of workplace violence against them this school year.”

These are really troubling statistics—very troubling statistics.

I want to look at what the TDSB had to say about Bill 98. The member for Ottawa West–Nepean reached out to unions, stakeholders, education workers to find out who the Conservatives consulted before introducing this bill. They didn’t consult with teachers. They didn’t consult with parents. They just came out with a bill; no consultation in advance.

This is what the Toronto school board had to say: “With regard to the ministry’s move to gain greater control over TDSB property through the ability to direct the sale, lease or disposal of school sites”—

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from the Elementary Teachers of Toronto to Stop the Cuts and Invest in our Schools.

“Whereas the government cut funding to our schools by $800 per student during the pandemic period, and plans to cut an additional $6 billion to our schools over the next six years;

“Whereas these cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, reduced special education and mental health supports and resources for our students, and neglected and occasionally unsafe buildings;

“Whereas the Financial Accountability Office reported a $2.1-billion surplus in 2021-22, and surpluses growing to $8.5 billion in 2027-28, demonstrating there is more than enough money to fund a robust public education system;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“—immediately reverse the cuts to our schools;

“—fix the inadequate education funding formula;

“—provide schools the funding they need to ensure the supports necessary to address the impacts of the pandemic on our students;

“—make the needed investments to provide smaller class sizes, increased levels of staffing to support our students’ special education, mental health, English language learner and wraparound supports needs, and safe and healthy buildings and classrooms.”

I support this petition. I’ll be affixing my signature to it and giving it to the page.

Education workers make our public schools great. They clean our yards. They maintain our buildings. They supervise our kids at lunch time. They clean our classrooms. They help our youngest kids and our kids with disabilities. We know them by their first names. They are part of our school community.

Education workers earn an average of $39,000 a year. Many work two jobs to make ends meet. Some have to go to food banks because their pay doesn’t go far enough, especially in this inflationary crisis we have. Many are leaving the profession.

I want our kids in class. Everyone wants our kids in class. No one wants a strike. That is why our schools need to receive the funding that they need so our kids can get an excellent education. That is why this government needs to stop violating the charter-protected rights of all workers, stop this bullying behaviour and get back to the negotiating table. That’s why this government needs to use the surplus that they have in their budget to negotiate a fair contract with workers, because that is the right thing to do for our kids, it’s the right thing to do for workers, and it’s the right thing to do for the people of Ontario.