Wynne failed special education students, and she’d do it again: NDP

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement in response to a government announcement on education funding made Monday:

“Kathleen Wynne has spent years shortchanging our children’s classrooms with a bad education funding formula. Last year, she cut funding for special education. And on Monday, she tried to convince Ontarians that, this time, if she were re-elected, for the next four years she’d be different than she was for the last four. Her promises mean nothing, now. For years, Wynne has used a broken funding formula to short-change all students, under-resource classrooms, close down schools and allow many more to fall into disrepair. The Conservatives left a $5.6-billion repair backlog in schools, and Wynne’s underfunding drove that shortfall up to $15 billion. We can’t allow her to let our kids down again, and 80 per cent of Ontarians agree that she shouldn’t be given the chance.

I’m running for premier because I believe our children need more resources in the classroom -- not fewer -- no matter which neighbourhood they’re growing up in or how they learn. We’ll put a moratorium on school closures and we’ll make sure special education funding is done on a per-student basis, so every child gets the education they deserve. On the other hand, Doug Ford is a risk to public education. He refused to put a moratorium on school closures. And asked recently what he would cut and privatize, he said he would leave no stone unturned. That puts everything -- from education to the rest of the hydro system -- on the chopping block. Choosing between Kathleen Wynne and Doug Ford is choosing between bad and worse when it comes to cuts in our schools. It’s time for something completely different.”