Since coming to power, this government has cut education funding in Ontario by $1,200 per student in real terms. Thanks to this underfunding, school boards are currently scrambling to plan cuts. Teachers and education workers are burning out, and a growing number of classrooms have unqualified educators present. Kids are going without vital supports.

In the midst of this crisis, the Premier thinks that increasing funding for education by only 0.8% is sufficient when the government’s own projection for inflation this year is 3.6%. Why does the Premier believe developers and highways should get billions, but kids should get cuts?

The crisis in education is creating a downward spiral where impossible working conditions are burning out teachers and education workers, who are leaving the profession, making the working conditions even worse for those who remain. We now have 40,000 teachers in Ontario who are registered with the college but not teaching in one of our schools.

Meanwhile, the number of unqualified teachers in classrooms is growing. How does the Premier think this is going to help kids catch up?