Education Equality December 10, 2002 Task Force P.O. BOX 22 The Honourable Elizabeth Witmer 77 Wellesley Street West Minister of Education Toronto, Ontario M7A 1N3 Tel (800) 438-6440 (416) 325-6009 Fax (416) 212-1037 Dear Minister, Le Groupe d’étude sur l’égalité en I am pleased to present the report of the Education Equality Task matière d’éducation Force, Investing in Public Education: Advancing the Goal of Continuous Improvement in Student Learning and Achievement. C.P. 22 77, rue Wellesley Ouest Toronto (Ontario) Thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve the people of M7A 1N3 Ontario by conducting this review of the Province’s education funding Tél. : 800 438-6440 formula. Thank you also for your support and encouragement 416 325-6009 throughout the course of my work. Téléc. : 416 212-1037 Sincerely, Mordechai Rozanski Dr. Mordechai Rozanski I Contents Preface . 3 1. Task Force Mandate and Process . 5 Mandate . 5 Expert Advisers . 5 Stakeholder Advisory Committee . 6 Research and Consultation Process . 6 2. Education Funding in Ontario . 9 Background . 9 Student-Focused Funding: The Current Formula . 11 3. Context for Considering the Issues and Making Recommendations . 14 Roles and Responsibilities in Ontario’s Education System . 14 Guiding Principles for the Funding Formula . 17 4. Issues and Recommendations . 21 Introductory Comments . 21 Benchmarks . 23 Effectiveness of the Formula for Distributing Funds among Boards . 25 Boards’ Flexibility with Respect to Local Expenditures . 38 School Renewal (Pupil Accommodation) . 40 Special Education . 43 Student Transportation . 48 Teachers’ Qualifications and Experience . 50 Technology . 51 Governance . 53 5. List of Recommendations and Summary of Estimated Costs . 54 List of Recommendations . 54 Summary of Estimated Costs . 59 Notes . 60 Appendices A. Task Force Chair and Expert Advisers . 63 B. Stakeholder Advisory Committee . 64 C. Discussion Points to Frame the Research and Consultation Process . 66 D. Components of the Student-Focused Funding Formula . 69 E. Participants in Roundtable Discussions . 74 F. Participants in Meetings with Provincial Stakeholder Associations . 81 G. Individuals and Organizations That Made Presentations and/or Provided Written Submissions . 85 H. Approach Used to Estimate the Cost of Updating the Benchmarks . 95 I. Estimated Cost of Updating Benchmarks and Proposed New Investments – by Grant . 97 J. Estimated Cost of Updating Benchmarks – by Benchmark . 99 Select Bibliography . 104 2 Investing in Public Education Preface The government announced the Education Equality Task Force in its Speech from the Throne on May 9, 2002. I was appointed to review the province’s student- focused funding formula and to make recommendations on ways to improve equity, fairness, certainty, and stability in the funding of Ontario’s students and schools. Since my appointment, I have considered this review an opportunity to affirm and strengthen Ontario’s publicly supported education system by advancing its goal – continuous improvement in student learning and achievement. Since the funding formula is one of the instruments for advancing this goal, my report focuses on improving the formula so that it provides school boards and schools with the means to achieve our education objectives. The journey from my appointment in May to the publication of this report has been a rewarding and enlightening one for me. More than anything, I have been impressed by the intense desire for high-quality public education among all education stakeholders in Ontario’s widely varied communities. I have not made this journey alone. My understanding of public education and its goals has been greatly enhanced by conversations with, and by reading the work of, several important education “thinkers” and “practitioners,” including internationally respected researchers and former ministers and deputy ministers of education. I received thoughtful advice on the issues in my mandate from a panel of expert advisers, all of whom have a broad level of expertise acquired through long careers in Ontario’s education system, and from a Stakeholder Advisory Committee made up of representatives of Ontario’s major education stakeholders. Chapter 1 and Appendices A and B provide more information on these advisers. I also received hundreds of oral and written submissions on a wide range of education and education funding issues from individuals, school boards, and education and other organizations during roundtable discussions and in public consultations throughout the province. Since students are, after all, the focus of Ontario’s education funding formula and this report, I am grateful that I was able, while conducting public hearings around the province, to visit some of Ontario’s schools and to meet students and their teachers and principals. The views of all of these people were most helpful as I deliberated the issues and wrote my report. Report of the Education Equality Task Force – 2002 3 This report could not have been produced without the dedicated assistance of a key group of support staff and consultants: • The task force’s highly efficient project co-ordinator, Norm Forma, quickly assembled a top-notch task force staff, engaged key consultants, arranged a wide-ranging consultation process in a very short period of time, responded quickly to all my needs, and kept me firmly on track. • Enid Slack, an economic consultant with an impressive track record as a member of an Education Funding Review Panel in British Columbia and of David Crombie’s Who Does What Panel for the Ontario government, provided sensitive and practical advice on a wide range of issues. • Ken Snowdon, who most recently served as Vice-President, Policy and Analysis, at the Council of Ontario Universities and who has years of experience with funding formulas, cost analyses, and research into higher education issues, conducted important research and advised me on many of the issues. • Pat Tolmie, who has edited many education task force reports, including sev- eral for the Education Improvement Commission, offered valuable editorial advice and guidance in the crafting of this report. I want to thank the following staff of the Ministry of Education: Suzanne Herbert, Deputy Minister; Norbert Hartmann, Assistant Deputy Minister for Special Pro- jects; Judith Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Planning and Programs; and Peter Gooch, Drew Nameth, Allan Doheny, and Wayne Burtnyk of the Ele- mentary/Secondary Business and Finance Division. Finally, I would like to thank the Honourable Elizabeth Witmer, Minister of Education, for her support and for encouraging me to offer candid advice on ways to improve Ontario’s education funding formula. Mordechai Rozanski Guelph, Ontario November 28, 2002 4 Investing in Public Education 1.Task Force Mandate and Process Mandate As I noted in my “Preface,” the Education Equality Task Force was announced in the Speech from the Throne on May 9, 2002. The government appointed me to review the province’s education funding formula and to make recommendations, to be considered for the 2003–04 school year, on ways to improve equity, fairness, certainty, and stability in the funding of Ontario’s students and schools. I was asked to review six aspects of the funding formula: 1. the effectiveness of the model for distributing funding between different types of boards (for example, between urban and rural boards, between small and large boards) 2. the structure of cost benchmarks (for example, does per pupil funding reflect appropriate per pupil costs?) 3. the degree of local expenditure flexibility school boards should have 4. approaches to addressing school renewal (for example, maintenance, repairs, renovations) 5. whether the current approach to funding special education is the most responsive way to meet students’ needs 6. the approach to funding student transportation, including ways to maximize opportunities for shared busing services between school boards that serve the same communities In addition, I was asked to ensure that my recommendations: • promote the principles on which the funding mechanism was built, which include fairness, equity, responsiveness to learners’ needs, and accountability • improve the stability of the education system • respect the legislative and constitutional framework for education in Ontario, which includes public, Catholic, French-language, and English-language school boards • take into account the fiscal situation of the Province Expert Advisers I was assisted in my work by a five-member team of independent expert advisers: Ann Vanstone, Patrick Slack, Lynn Beyak, Brian Cain, and Mariette Carrier-Fraser. Their biographies appear in Appendix A, as does mine. Report of the Education Equality Task Force – 2002 5 Each of these experts possesses broad experience acquired during a career of service in Ontario’s education system. Together they have served as a key resource, working directly with me as I met with stakeholders and the public, reviewed research and submissions, and developed my recommendations. All of the advisers are independent volunteers not currently employed in the education sector. Stakeholder Advisory Committee I was also assisted by a 31-member Stakeholder Advisory Committee. This committee was composed of representatives from major education-related organizations, including those representing parents, students, teachers, principals, trustees, directors of education, and school board supervisory officials. Their names and affiliations can