I appreciate that. I hope we can go further.

I was taught that you measure what you value, and you change what you measure. In recent years, kids are struggling from a lack of support for their mental health and development in the community and at school, which makes education work overwhelming. Folks are leaving the profession and recruitment is a challenge, which I know as a former school social worker. Boards are struggling to hire EAs, bus drivers, teachers. The vacancy rates in the Waterloo region and across the province are breaking records. This, and the budget shortfall mean that support staff ratios are alarmingly low. In the elementary schools alone, the ratio of support staff to students is 1.73 per 1,000 students.

Will the Premier value and measure the realities of workplace violence and the increasing needs for student supports and create a plan to change this trend?