Fixing our schools

Jessica Bell and the Ontario NDP are on your side with a plan to fix schools, hire staff, feed kids, and make sure every single student has the tools they need to succeed.

Jessica Bell and the Ontario NDP will:

• 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. We will invest an additional $830 million a year to clear the repair backlog within 10 years while keeping up with school maintenance needs.
• Hire more staff – with large class sizes and 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.
• 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.
• 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. And we’ll make sure students can get to class reliably and on time by fixing Ford’s broken student transportation funding.
• Invest in Francophone education in French school boards and French immersion programs in the English system.