Some York Region MPPs give full support to new curriculum

Education minister promises no job cuts following decision to increase class sizes

Yorkregion.com
March 19, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Some five MPPs have lent their support to a provincewide new vision by the Tory government announced on March 15. These MPPs said these changes will bring math back to basics, renew focus on STEM, skilled trades and financial literacy.

The PC members are giving their backing following what Minister of Education Lisa Thompson dubbed as the “largest consultation of its kind in Ontario history.” More than 72,000 Ontarians were engaged via open submission forms, online survey and telephone town halls to give their opinion on what ought to be changed.

“After holding the largest public consultation on education I am pleased with Minister Thompson’s announcement,” said Daisy Wai, MPP for Richmond Hill. Wai said the new curriculum will give students skills “they need to build good lives, families and careers.”

Logan Kanapathi, MPP for Markham-Thornhill, criticized the previous Liberal government for leaving students with an “outdated systems” that didn’t “prepare” them for the “realities of today.”

“We are going to be investing in education and students in a way that is focused on student achievement and well-being," Kanapathi added.

For Billy Pang, MPP for Markham-Unionville, said “Ontario education system from K-12 has been failing our students for far too long.”

Pang added: “In order to retain and grow the prosperity of our province, the education of our children must be enhanced.”

He dubbed Thompson’s announcement about the new changes as a “tools for success” for both educator and students.

For Paul Calandra, MPP for Markham-Stouffville, said the government was “clear” from the start that “we are listening to parents and consulting with our education partners to modernize and improve Ontario’s education system from kindergarten to Grade 12."

But this listening process for Calandra continues to be welcomed.
We welcome conversation with any stakeholder who wants to work with us in good faith to ensure our plan always puts students first and remains fair to our educators.”

Stephen Lecce, MPP for King-Vaughan, meanwhile, said a “modernized education system” ought to return back to “the basics, with a renewed focus on math fundamentals and STEM in the classroom, and greater emphasis on skills training and financial literacy.”

Thompson praised the new changes after “we did what the previous government had been afraid to do -- and threw the doors open to real, meaningful public and parental input into our education system.”

"We heard from more than 72,000 parents, teachers, students, employers and organizations making this the largest consultation of its kind in Ontario history. The people told us what wasn't working and what we need to protect."

Class sizes to Grade 3 unchanged

While many have criticized the Tory government for its proposal to remove cap on class sizes. Class sizes for kindergarten to Grade 3 will remain the same. But class sizes for grades 4 to 8 will get bigger in line with the Tories' goal to cut costs.

Harvey Bischof, the head of the union representing Ontario’s public high school teachers, said "Premier Dough Ford has declared war” on the province’s education system and that about 3,600 secondary school teachers are expected to lose their jobs over four years following the class size increase and cut on funding.

However, Thompson promised that won’t be happening without giving a modus operandi of how the government would achieve that.

“Not one teacher -- not one -- will lose their job because of our class size strategy,” said Thompson.

On average, high school class sizes will increase by six students -- from 22 to 28. The minister said this is will take place over the upcoming four years adding that Ontario high schools so far have one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios in the country.

The new changes will also include a sex-ed curriculum that returns to teaching gender identity and consent.

Following changes to several grants to schools, the funding is expected to drop by $1.4 billion for the education system, Bischof said.

From her side, Ontario’s former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne said in a statement that these changes will result in a $250 million cut in funding to the province’s education system and undo improvements made by her government.

“What is clear is that students, who are the ones on the receiving end of these cuts, will be worse off,” Wynne said in a statement.

Ontario high schools will also receive a revised curriculum on First Nations, Métis and Inuit studies, which the province said was developed in collaboration with Indigenous partners.

Starting next year, Ontario will also ban cellphones in classroom during instruction time, except for when teachers want to use cellphones as part of their lesson, for medical reasons and for students with special needs.