Second round of aid payments on way to families
Province also pledges $60 million more for Black Youth Action Plan
The provincial government is promising a second round of pandemic payments to Ontario families to help them cover extra COVID-19 costs.
In its budget released Thursday, the province announced $380 million for the fund, and also promised to double the funding for its Black Youth Action Plan, with another $60 million over three years.
Last March, the government spent $378 million — $200 per child up to age 12, and $250 for special-needs children — for families’ COVID-19-related school costs.
“We have heard from parents that new expenses to support their kids’ education in this COVID-19 era are straining their pocketbooks, but we will provide a measure of relief with the ‘support for learners’ initiative,” said Finance Minister Rod Phillips.
The new payouts from the $380-million fund “could help cover the costs of an accessible workspace and technology to enable learning online,” he said.
However, Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter — a former education minister — doesn’t think it’s enough.
“A lot of families in my community in Scarborough have chosen to go the virtual route but don’t necessarily have all the support — they don’t have the devices, they don’t have the broadband,” said Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood).
“This $200 is not going to go far,” she added. “Working and learning from home has really driven up usage and costs ... and sure, they’ll welcome (the payment) but it doesn’t go to addressing the real problems and real inequities we are seeing in schools right now.”
Phillips told the legislature that during the pandemic, “existing inequity and hardships” have been exacerbated, and that “important work is already under way to address these issues,” such as the Black Youth Action Plan.
“Like many in the province, I’ve been reflecting on the important conversations that are happening across our communities about anti-Black racism,” he said. “Ontario is a place where every person deserves respect and the opportunity to be all that they can be.”
However, he added, “unfortunately, systemic racism and other forms of hate persist. That is simply unacceptable.”
As part of the budget bill, the government is also proposing several changes to teacher discipline, and banning teachers and early childhood educators from the profession for life if they are convicted of sexual abuse or child pornography.
As first reported by the Star, the government will also add racist behaviours or comments to the list of acts that fall under professional misconduct and that can be subject to formal discipline by the Ontario College of Teachers.
These were all changes that were urged by an independent report to the college two years ago.
Thursday’s budget revealed overall education funding for this year at $31 billion, up from $30.2 billion last year, which includes millions in COVID-19related funding.
In 2021-22, education funding will rise to $31.1 billion and in 2022-23 to $31.3 billion.
Hunter said the nominal increase in the education budget is “essentially a cut” that won’t cover boards’ increased expenses over the next two years.
Phillips did say if COVID remains an issue next September, more funding will flow.
Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, said boards are “cautiously optimistic because there is extra funding for education in this budget, and we also understand the constantly changing dynamic and we’ll keep conversations open with the ministry.”
But Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation president Harvey Bischof slammed Phillips, saying his “refusal to unlock the full allotment of the first phase of $700 million in federal government funding for schools leaves students, parents and school staff vulnerable to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.”