ABOUTone month after the start of the school year, Here's a statement about education that may seem instinctively obvious to some, but radically counterintuitive to others: “A strong public education system is the foundation of a prosperous, caring, and civil society.”
You may be surprised to learn what these lofty words reveal Education Law. The law defines education as a means to help students “realize their potential” and grow into “knowledgeable and caring citizens.” It emphasizes that all partners—minister, ministry and boards—share a responsibility to “maintain trust” in the classrooms and communities that make up Ontario schools.
This principle of shared governance is precisely what Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra now appears poised to destroy – starting with one of the country's oldest democratic traditions. School trustees, first elected in the early 1800s, are part of a system he now calls “obsolete and old,” adding that “if it means eliminating [them]then I will do it.”
As a Waterloo County school board trustee, I must admit that I have some vested interest in the outcome of this debate (including a $16,160 annual stipend as reward for my efforts—an amount that CBC host Natasha Fath curiously referred to as “a hefty salary”). But let me explain why quitting my job would be a terrible idea.
AAccording to the Education Law, A trustee's job is to promote “student achievement and well-being” and promote a school climate that is “inclusive and accepting of all students.” Trustees also manage resources, set policy, oversee multi-year plans, and hold the director of education accountable for results.
Of course, there is much more to being a caregiver. Essentially, it is about solving the problems of students' families and providing them with the information or assistance they need. When, for example, the historic building that housed the local elementary school developed structural problems and had to close, I fielded more than a hundred emails and phone calls from parents and sat through a tense town hall where board representatives and engineers answered questions. If the trustees are removed, who will answer those calls or enter those rooms? Based on the experience of school boards like Ottawa-Carleton, which were recently placed under provincial control and trustees were blocked from accessing their email accounts and devices, I would suggest that the answer is no one.
Another key role is propaganda. A signalized crosswalk will finally open in my neighborhood this month, offering a safe way to cross a four-lane street where the nearest traffic lights are 600 meters apart. For years, parents have worried about the dangers of crossing the border for their children. Having been elected in 2018 on a platform that, among other things, emphasized safe school routes, I embraced the cause. I have email conversations on this issue dating back to January 2019 involving several elected officials and staff at the city, regional and school board levels. Many people deserve credit for this improvement, but it's fair to say that it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't championed the issue. Many trustees across the province will have similar stories.
This is neighborhood level work that people see. Trustees are also involved in nearly every aspect of the operation of Ontario schools, including contract negotiations. Collective bargaining takes place centrally, with trustee associations being one of three parties at the bargaining table. Each council then enters into its own agreement to deal with local issues. This happens with each of the seven different unions (on the government side only). Removing trustees from this complex structure would be tantamount to pulling the rug out from under these agreements. Moreover, trustee associations are silent intermediaries that help prevent disruptions in the first place, especially when existing agreements expire.
Their responsibilities don't end there. The trustees also make decisions on expulsion recommendations. The Education Act guarantees a student a hearing before the Board of Trustees within twenty days of the student's first suspension. This committee decides whether the student should be expelled from all schools, expelled only from a specific school, or rescind the recommendation. Without trustees, who will attend these hearings and provide students accused of wrongdoing with the right to due process?
Take the trustees out of the picture and what remains is not a school system. It is a machine with no one to answer to the people it serves.
The is a minister and prime minister has repeatedly accused school boards of poor financial management. They base this on several high-profile examples (Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic School Board trustees went to Italy to buy art, and some Thames Valley District School Board administrators held a retreat at the Rogers Center that the trustees never approved), as well as the fact that many boards struggled to balance their budgets.
But let's be clear: balancing a school board's budget is incredibly difficult when the money received from the Department of Education does not cover the services school boards are required to provide by law. Since 2018, inflation-adjusted education funding has decreased by $776 per student. The province's own figures (revised estimates for 2024/25) show that sixty-seven of the province's seventy-two school boards will spend more on special education than they receive through the Special Education Fund. My own board is projected to exceed this funding by $5.5 million in the 2025-26 school year. Meanwhile, the number of students in need of special educational support continues to grow.
And the financial difficulties don't end there. Employee sick leave costs boards nearly 2.5 times more than what the province provides, an amount they have refused to cover. The province will also not pay for short-term costs, such as urgent equipment needs or hiring replacement and support staff during absences.
Even mandatory expenses are not fully covered. Like any employer, school boards are required to pay Canada Pension Plan contributions, which have increased by one percentage point since 2018 (from 4.95 to 5.95 per cent). The province has not adjusted its funding, continuing to pay the old rate, a major blow to any organization that spends the majority of its budget on salaries.
Given such pressure, the shortage is hardly surprising. It is remarkable that any board manages to balance its books at all, a feat that the province itself has yet to master.
However, the province's criticism also ignores a key fact: school boards are already among the most scrutinized public institutions in Ontario. The audit committee, consisting of trustees and external financial experts, meets at least three times a year to approve the audit plan, review reports and discuss risk mitigation measures. Boards of directors are subject to both internal and external audits, and the ministry has real-time access to how they spend and manage their money.
As expected, the investigations have yet to produce a scandal to match the rhetoric. PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational accounting firm, said its review of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, which as mentioned fell under provincial control this year amid allegations of financial impropriety, found “no examples of reckless or deliberate wrongdoing.” They also reported no signs of problems with “financial oversight or governance,” or any actions that could lead to “reputational damage.”
WITHsaying it won't win it all I have friends in the Ministry of Education or in the Prime Minister's Office. They don't really welcome criticism and tend to lash out at those who offer it. But that's the point: their allergy to responsibility is what's behind the decision to abandon trustees, and it's part of something bigger and more troubling.
Since its election in 2018, the Ford government has eliminated the positions of Children's Advocate, Environment Commissioner and Commissioner of Francophone Services, three independent observers who reported directly to the legislature.
He also took control of environmental authorities that manage water, wildlife and green spaces, appointing a new conservation chief to keep them in check. It used ministerial zoning orders to overrule municipal planning decisions seventeen times more often than previous administrations. He gave himself the power to tear up bike lanes he didn't like and then spoke out against the judge which declared the law unconstitutional. Ford was the first Ontario premier to invoke the anti-Charter clause, and he threatened to do so at least three more times (including on the issue of bike lanes).
Removing elected school trustees would be the right thing for the government to do. And if that day comes, it won't be because we haven't done our job. This will happen because we have done them too well in the government's opinion.
