GECDSB cuts to special education part of a trend across Ontario: ETFO

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario is calling on the Ministry of Education to change the funding formula for school boards.

During an hour-long news conference Tuesday, ETFO leaders referenced the Greater Essex County District School Board three times and its recent decision to cut the RISE program.

The Reaching Individual Success and Excellence program offers students specialized instruction focused on language, arts, and math in a classroom with eight to 11 students.

In November 2024, GECDSB trustees voted to eliminate it to try to balance their $8.9-million budget deficit in the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.

According to an ETFO news release, special education programs at boards in Peel, North East and Ottawa-Carleton have all lost funding since June 2024.

“The best way I can describe this experience, is to ask you to imagine having a terminal illness and being denied treatment,” Windsor parent Joanna Conrad said Tuesday during the news conference in Toronto.

She is a vocal opponent to cuts to special education. Conrads’ daughter has Down syndrome.

“The helplessness. The panic. The knowledge that time is slipping away. That’s what it feels like to watch your child lose years of learning,” Conrad said.

ETFO released a report on cuts to special education in 2002 and President Karen Brown believes the situation has gotten worse.

“The Ford government has abandoned students with disabilities, forcing them into an under-resourced system that cannot meet their needs. This is a crisis of their making, and they must take swift action to improve the system by implementing the recommendations outlined in “Promises Unfulfilled” (ETFO’s new report),” Brown said in a news release.

ETFO is calling for the Ontario government to take three steps: tie the funding formula to inflation, base it on actual enrolment and address the growing list of students waiting for a special education assessment.

The union estimates 59 per cent of students receiving special education supports have not received an Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) review.

However, the report also includes 27 recommendations on funding the entire system, making references to such contentious issues as classroom sizes in elementary grades and increases to professional development for all teachers.

Minister of Education Jill Dunlop issued a statement to CTV News.

“Since coming into government, we have improved funding for special education supports every single year – and by the end of 2025 - funding is projected to total almost $4 Billion, the highest amount of special education funding ever provided and a 31% increase from the previous Liberal government. We have also added over 9,000 education workers including 3,500 education assistants to support teachers, parents and students with special education needs. We will continue to work with parents and educators to meet the changing needs of our classrooms, but it is absolutely critical that school boards ensure all funds they are provided by our government, including for special education, go straight to meeting the learning needs of all our students.”

With files from CTV News Windsor’s Sanjay Maru.