Parliament Hill rally calls on Ford government to boost public education spending

You've noticed the cuts in the last, you know, eight years, you know, on a day-to-day basis. Regine DaCosta teaches at a Catholic school in Ottawa and has for a long time. Since Doug Ford's government took over in 2018, she says classrooms have gone downhill. It means we do have EA support, but fewer and fewer EAs that are assigned to schools. Our special needs children are suffering as well as the children in the regular classroom. DeCosta was just one of hundreds who gathered on Parliament Hill Saturday, calling on the Ford government to boost funding for public education. The Ministry of Education told CBC over email that it's put a record $30 billion into supporting teachers, administration and school operations this year. But according to the most recent education spending review from the Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario, per-student funding is at a 10-year low. And while the past three years have seen overall budget increases of just under 6%, this year's education budget only went up by 0.6%. Union leaders like Mary Fowler with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario say that's far too low. We need to have more money, we need to have more support personnel, we need to have more resources, and this is an investment in the future of Ontario. This is not, you know, doling out money to developers. This is literally investing in our kids. That's what we need. Teachers and their union representatives say they're also pushing for a fair collective agreement in their negotiations this year. Cameron Moeller, CBC News, Ottawa.