Fighting for Public Education and Every Student

Lee’s Plan

Support every student to succeed from early years to post-secondary education.

The promise of a publicly funded system is a good education for every student — in an environment where all young people can learn, grow, play and fulfill their potential. We can only deliver on this promise by listening to professional educators and helping them to deliver the highest quality education, in the best equipped schools.

For K-12 students, this means reducing overcrowded classrooms so that educators can provide individualized support. Young people who need support with mental health, and specialized needs, should have access to that support. No student should be denied the opportunity to learn and thrive.

Early Learning

The years before Kindergarten have a profound impact on a child’s development. Every child and family should be supported during these critical early years.

• Continue to invest in making regulated child care that is fully affordable and accessible for every Ontario family.
• Provide incentives to publicly funded organizations to offer on-site child care, including care that meets the needs of shift workers.
• Create an Early Childhood Education (ECE) tax credit to assist with low wages and stabilize the workforce.

K-12

Ontario Liberals introduced full-day Kindergarten because we understood that investing early gives children a stronger start. We need the same ambition and focus today to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed.

• Restore respect for educators, education workers and school boards. That means empowering responsible local decision-making focused on student achievement, respecting the professional leadership of teachers and other educators, and ensuring safe, respectful and welcoming schools for all. Evidence and student outcomes will guide investment decisions.
• Provide immediate relief to the most underfunded and unsupported schools. Close the $6.3 billion underfunding gap created by the Ford Conservatives and tie core education funding to inflation.
• Reduce class sizes in classes that are too overcrowded to support learning.
• Increase the ratio of ECE workers to students to maximize learning potential.
• Ensure classes have the right mix of expertise — educators, ECEs, Educational Assistants (EAs) and other specialized workers — to meet the needs of the class.
• De-politicize curriculum development so student learning is guided by sound evidence and professional expertise, not politics.
• End mandatory online learning which was implemented to undermine classroom educators.
• Reform special education by:
  • Putting students and families first and creating meaningful, effective connections between school and the community.
  • Accelerating public assessments to ensure students get support sooner, while ensuring equitable access to services, regardless of whether a student receives a public or private assessment.
  • Provide funding that supports and follows every student from home to school to the community.
  • Provide resources and training so that no student is excluded from school because of inadequate supports.
• Expand school-based mental health supports. Amend the funding formula to ensure in-school supports match the dramatic increase in mental health needs; improve training and resources for educators; fund more mental health professionals through school boards; and strengthen connections with community and health care services.
• Invest in specialized learning. Dedicate resources for teachers and educators specializing in music, drama and the arts, science and technology, and French-language education.
• Respect the unique role of Catholic education within Ontario’s publicly funded school system and optimize the constructive competition for innovation excellence it can provide for continuous student outcomes improvement in both official languages.
• Fund education-worker training centres in the same way Ontario supports training centres for skilled trades and Red Seal trades.
• Create financial incentives for municipalities, school boards, community organizations and other partners to share school facilities. This will reduce the need for schools to charge user fees to offset funding shortfalls.

Post-Secondary Education

• Immediately reverse Ford Conservatives’ OSAP cuts and structural changes which leave students with heavy debt loads or financially unable to pursue education.
• Prioritize public and not-for-profit training for critical occupations. Shift training for critical jobs from private career colleges to public colleges, union training centres, school boards and others, beginning with Early Childhood Education and Personal Support Workers.
• Refocus OSAP funding on publicly funded education. Students attending private career colleges will no longer be eligible for OSAP for programs offered at public institutions. These funds will be reinvested in financial assistance for students attending Ontario’s publicly funded colleges and universities.
• Prepare more people for in-demand careers. Work with communities, unions, employers, school boards, colleges, universities and other partners to expand training and workplace incentives — especially in Northern and rural Ontario.
• Connect students with career pathways earlier. Beginning in Grade 7, students will have more opportunities to explore pathways to skilled trades, colleges and universities.