The head of Ontario’s commission on public service reform makes 362 recommendations in a 700-page report to be released Wednesday, including the eradication of McGuinty’s signature education promises from the last three elections.
Drummond implores the government to spend more money in only one area — aboriginal education because too many First Nations children live on reserves without proper schools.
The former TD Bank chief economist, hired to chart a map to pay down the $16 billion deficit by 2017-18, is urging annual government spending increases to be capped at just 0.8 per cent.
That means overall government spending would be raised by just $6.3 billion over the next five years.
Put in perspective, spending has skyrocketed by $40.5 billion over the past five years — from $83.5 billion in 2005-06 to $124 billion last year.
One senior insider told the Star that Drummond’s long-awaited report effectively recommends “amputating a limb in order to save the patient.”
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan did not dispute that, noting Monday the commission warns Ontario’s annual deficit could skyrocket to $30 billion by 2017-18 unless major steps are taken to “transform” government operations.
The minority Liberal government plans to enact the lion’s share of his proposals, but in a way that is politically palatable and does not undermine the achievements of the “education premier.”
Indeed, Duncan insisted full-day kindergarten — the Liberals’ cornerstone pledge of the 2007 election though implementation did not begin until 2010 — would not be phased out.
After a luncheon speech, he initially said it would be kept regardless of cost, then hedged, saying: “Right at the moment we’re going to proceed with full-day learning.”
Drummond offers the Liberals two scenarios on the program: eliminating it altogether or moving toward a cheaper model with only one teacher in the classroom.
Another money-saving recommendation is to get rid of the “victory lap” that many struggling high school students take once they have completed Grade 12.
Students with poor grades often return to high school for a fifth year, but Drummond believes $400 million could be saved if it were limited to four.
Education advocates fear that students could face tuition fees for the fifth year of high school many use to boost their grades to get into university or college.
“Students often struggle financially to get into university and … our university counterparts … they tell us students who transition too quickly into university are really struggling,” Ontario Public School Boards’ Association president Catherine Fife.
More acceptable, said Fife, is getting rid of the cap on kindergarten to Grade 3 classes that McGuinty successfully campaigned on in the 2003 election.
“What we’ve heard from school boards is that benefits are negligible … if you go from a class cap of 20 to 23 students. The hard cap is so restrictive and so costly.”
Education Minister Laurel Broten declined to weigh in on “media speculation,” but said it was too early to “draw judgment about what is good or bad in the report.
“The ministry of education budget is $23 billion and we have to find a way to also do our part within the ministry. We will not compromise public education,” Broten said in an interview Saturday.
Still, the lone educational bright light in the 6 centimetre-thick report — as hefty as the Oxford Canadian Dictionary — is on native schooling.
First Nations children are funded between $2,000 and $3,000 less per student than non-native kids.
“He understands there are things that need to be done,” a senior Liberal official said of Drummond’s findings on how important aboriginal education initiatives are to the long-term economic future of the province.
Just last week, a federal-commissioned report on First Nation elementary and secondary education for on-reserve students was released, recommending increased funding.
Patrick Madahbee, Anishinabek Nation Grand Council chief, said Monday there have been positive signals from both Ottawa and the province concerning education.
On post-secondary education, Drummond advises the Ontario Tuition Grant — the 30 per cent fee reduction the Liberals ran on in the Oct. 6 election — be rescinded even though it just took effect last month.
Duncan admitted Drummond will also take aim at the cost of pensions for public servants and “what the potential costs to the taxpayers are over the next number of years to keep those plans solvent.”
“That is going to have to be dealt with by the plan members as well as the people of Ontario,” he said, echoing McGuinty’s concern about labour disruptions.
Asked if there would be cuts to welfare rates post-Drummond, the finance minister replied: “No, not to Ontario Works.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Robert Benzie, Rob Ferguson, Tanya Talaga
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