Skepticism surrounds new $750 supply fund for elementary teachers
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: TBnewswatch.com
Local elementary teachers’ unions are skeptical about the Ford government’s recent announcement of the Classroom Supplies Fund.
Starting in September, elementary teachers will receive $750 each year for classroom supplies.
Lakehead Elementary Teachers of Ontario president Dave Paddington says the recent announcement is a declaration from Doug Ford that he has dramatically underfunded schools for a long time.
“It’s common knowledge that teachers spend a lot of their own money in classrooms, and he thinks that throwing a band-aid on this is going to give him some good press. I don’t think that’s the case. I think people see through it right away, that they understand that this is a drop in the bucket from what’s been removed from education,” he said.
Paddington said he is still not sure how the province is going to roll out the new funding, but he is skeptical about who’s benefiting from this at the other end.
According to the province’s press release, teachers will have access to the funding through a new provincial website, allowing them to order classroom supplies directly from a supplier.
“Who owns the company that we’re going to be mandated to spend the money,” he said, “so whose pockets are getting lined?”
Paddington says right now, he is on a “fact finding mission” because there are still too many unknowns with how the program will work.
“We’ve heard it’s a gift card. We’ve heard it’s going to a specific company. We’ve heard that teachers will be in charge of it. So, does that mean that teachers don’t walk into their classroom at the beginning of the year with pencils to give their students? Are they required to be bringing them with them for their students? How does this roll out?”
Michelle Pero, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association with Thunder Bay elementary unit, says the new funding does not “address the $6.3 million of under-funding that has been happening over the last eight years.”
“Teachers already have a massive workload, and now they’re going to be expected to use their own time with this expensive card to try and order supplies,” she said.
She said the announcement leaves too many unanswered questions, like where the money is going to come from.
“Is that money that’s coming from somewhere else within the education budget? Will the funding to school boards that normally cover these supplies be cut? That’s going to remain to be seen until we see the budget,” Pero said.
Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland says his government has listened to educators, and the $750 card is on top of substantial investments the Ford government has made in education.
“We recognize that there are some areas of the province, I’m not speaking specifically to Thunder Bay, that we’re hearing back that maybe some of the funding wasn’t directly coming to the classrooms. So, this was another way that we could support the teachers in the important work they’re doing with our children and provide them with additional funding to meet their supply needs for their education,” he said.
