Fix schools, feed kids, hire staff, support every student

OTTAWA – Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles announced her plan to invest in schools and set our kids up for success. Stronger local schools will help Ontario’s students access more opportunities, find good jobs, start businesses, and contribute to a resilient, more tariff-proof Ontario.

“Ontario’s schools represent opportunities, they build communities, they connect us with one another,” said Stiles. “Generations of Ontarians have found their calling and their community through our world class publicly funded schools. But seven long years of Doug Ford and his cuts have left us with overcrowded classrooms, crumbling schools, and less support for our children.

“In the next few weeks, we have the power to change things, and we have the power to set our kids up for a strong, resilient future.

“Ontario’s New Democrats have a plan to fix schools, hire staff, feed kids, and make sure every single student has the tools they need to succeed. We can deliver stronger schools and a better future for our kids with a government that’s on your side.”

Marit’s plan:

1. Fix our schools. Ontario’s schools are saddled with a massive repair backlog left behind by the Liberals, and it has only grown under Ford’s Conservatives. Freezing classrooms without heat in the winter, gyms and cafeterias with leaking roofs. We’ll fix schools to give students a high quality, nurturing learning environment. We will invest an additional $830 million a year to clear the repair backlog within 10 years while keeping up with school maintenance needs.
2. Hire more staff. Large class sizes, less direct support, it can be hard to learn in Ford’s Ontario. Dedicated teachers, educational assistants, child and youth workers, ECEs, custodial and trade workers – they make all the difference helping students get the one-on-one attention they need and maintaining a nurturing learning environment. Having more caring adults in schools makes them safer for everyone.
3. Feed students. Kids can’t learn on an empty stomach. Families are facing record high grocery bills, and inflation from tariffs could drive up costs even further. We’ll create a universal School Food Program so that every child in Ontario is set up to succeed. Ontario already feeds some kids in school, we’ll expand it for all and use fresh food prepared and grown right here in Ontario to do it. We can help kids focus on their teacher, not their hunger, and give families some financial relief.
4. Support every learner. We’ll make sure our public education system gives students with disabilities the support they deserve. We’ll end the practice of streaming and make sure we are using data to support more equitable schools. We will review the funding model to focus on student needs and not numbers of students to support vulnerable students. We’ll invest in Francophone education in French school boards and French immersion programs in the English system. And we’ll make sure students can get to class reliably and on time by fixing Ford’s broken student transportation funding.