Educating our children is something just about everyone can get behind – as they say, 'children are the future'.  How we go about it, on the other hand, tends to produce much less consensus.  In recent months, the issue of prospective school closures across the province has led to considerable debate, and energized advocates on all sides.

What's New?

A new report released Thursday – by the independent research and advocacy group, People for Education – will no doubt add fuel to the fire.  Their report indicates that a substantial number of Ontario public school closures are on the horizon.  121 schools, many in cash-strapped and under-served rural areas, appear to be on the chopping block between 2017 and 2020.

According to the report, 34 of Ontario's 72 school boards plan to close at least one school. With the grand total of 121 board-recommended closures, that's an average of well over three closures per board.  The final decision rests with the school boards themselves, the trustees of which must vote on each recommended closure.  As of April 30, 58 of the recommended closures have been approved by trustees, while another 52 such votes are pending.  Board recommendations have historically been followed.  These schools serve about 33,000 students.  (See an interactive map of Ontario school closures here)

Rural Ontarians appear to be the most affected.  A disproportionate number of these schools are under-utilized, meaning they are prime targets for closure and consolidation with area schools.  This could mean considerably larger distances from home to the classroom for many students. The report also noted that 25 new schools are also proposed, albeit to absorb students from these closing facilities.  Moreover, while a "long overdue" overhaul of Ontario rural education strategy is slated to commence this week in the form of community consultations, People for Education's executive director, Annie Kidder, points out that most of these closure recommendations are already in their final stages (see here).  How much influence rural communities will be able to exert on provincial policy is an open question, especially given that the projected closures will be rolled out through 2020.

Likewise notable is the fact that, while the potential closure of 121 schools is far from insignificant, this figure is dwarfed by previous (perhaps somewhat misleading) estimates.  In March, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter suggested as many as 300 "under-utilized or dilapidated" schools were being considered for closure.  She did, however, emphasize that not all would be closed (see here).  The Ontario Alliance Against School Closures estimated as many as 600 schools might be closed.

People for Education compiled their data from each school board in Ontario, seeking "to paint a clearer picture of an emotionally-charged issue that cuts to the heart of communities" said executive director Annie Kidder (see here).  In that they appear to have succeeded: the group is certainly an advocate for public education, but the brief report is fairly light on editorializing, consisting mostly of factual, numerical points.  Situating the conversation on terra firma will be a welcome change for many.

The Political Context

Overlaying this policy debate, as always, is a political battle for provincial parliament.   Hunter and the governing Ontario Liberals under Kathleen Wynne will be keen to distance themselves from these decisions, which, regardless of their economic sense (or lack thereof), simply won't sit well with the public.  The ultimate decisions lie with the school boards, but the policy framework they must operate within comes from on high – something the opposition has already seized upon.  Funding is a perennial concern for these boards, and the government plays no small role in those decisions.

Patrick Brown's conservatives, for their part, find themselves in the somewhat paradoxical position of pushing for a moratorium on school closures.  So, the centre-right opposition is fighting against the retrenchment of public services being promoted by the centre-left mainstay Liberals.  If that's not strange enough, some will remember that it was Dalton McGuinty's Liberals who put in place exactly that moratorium back in 2003.  Ontario politics can be a bit fickle.

Resource scarcity is an inescapable fact of life, for any government in any economy.  It's in the chaotic political arena that our society determines how to use what we have.  It will be interesting to see to what extent Ontarians will show their views on public education, whatever they might be, at the ballot box.  To many, cutting public schools will seem well out of step with their spending priorities; others will wonder what sense there is in continuing to fund half-empty schools.  There are many moving pieces.  With June elections coming up, it will be equally interesting to see how the vying parties will position themselves on this issue.

For now, it looks like the public school system is in for a change, for better or worse.

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