Toronto - Brian OKeefe the Ontario secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union representing more than 45,000 school board support workers will make a deputation to the government committee hearings on Bill 45, at 4 p.m. today at Queens Park, Room 151.
Our public system is grossly underfunded and this government continues to ignore that its funding formula for education is inadequate and creating turmoil in our schools. Now, with the introduction of tuition tax credits for parents who send their children to private schools, taxpayers dollars will be siphoned from the public system and the crisis in our schools will deepen, says OKeefe.
He points to a recent poll where 15 per cent of parents responding said they would consider pulling their children from the public system if given the tuition tax credit.
Based on that number the government is seriously underestimating the potential cost of this initiative to the taxpayers of Ontario. They say $300 million but the poll tells us it could be closer to $1 billion, says OKeefe.
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For more information please contact:
Brian OKeefe, CUPE Ontario Secretary-Treasurer
(416) 579-7414
Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications
(416) 578-8774