Catholic Trustees Say Budget Announcement Helpful But Not Enough to Address School Board Challenges

“Today’s budget announcement of an additional $424 million for education reaffirms the government’s commitment to its multi- year funding strategy,” said Paul Whitehead, President of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA).
“We are concerned, however, that the education priorities identified in today’s provincial budget announcement do not include an increased ability for school boards to pay teachers what they are required to pay. As a result, we expect that a number of school boards will face serious challenges in balancing their 2006-07 budgets,” said Whitehead.
OCSTA awaits and will carefully study further details regarding actual allocations within and outside of Grants for Student Needs in order to assess their full impact on school boards.
The Association will continue to work with the government to ensure continued respect for the principles of equity, funding adequacy, autonomy and flexibility for school boards.