The cost of health care and lowered economic growth projections
could make it difficult for the Ontario government to come
up with more money for schools, a measure expected to
be recommended in a report on education funding coming tomorrow.
The Tories have promised to act on the study it
commissioned from Guelph University president Mordechai Rozanski and to balance
the books. But observers say that commitment will require a
"very creative" spring budget.
"Given the financial pressures, the government's going to resort to
some devices that are going to try to look like
they have a balanced budget," said Henry Jacek, a political
science professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.
"They'll look like they're phasing in the costs in the
next few years even though, in fact, I think the
money will be spent a lot sooner than that. They're
also probably depending on selling assets."
The current school funding formula, which allocates money on a
per-student basis, began in 1998, when school boards were stripped
of their power to levy taxes and all school funding
was centralized at the Ontario legislature.
Critics have since argued that the one-size-fits-all approach puts schools
with unique needs at a disadvantage.
Source.
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