The Liberals and Progressive Conservatives are using the debate about faith-based schools as a smokescreen to distract voters from a lack of education funding for which both parties are to blame, New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton said Monday.
Voters are getting sick of the other leaders spending so much time talking about faith-based schools, and the New Democrats intend to make funding for the education system a matter of debate, Hampton said.
"It may take time, but I think by the end of this campaign people will grow tired of talking about a more philosophical issue and return to what I think is the practical issue for most parents," he said.
"When I go from community to community, what people are most concerned about is their neighbourhood school; what people want to see is that their neighbourhood school is … properly funded."
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory wants to focus the debate on faith-based schools because it was former premier Mike Harris that created the current problem of funding shortfalls, Hampton said.
'"This train wreck happened as a direct result of the Conservatives withdrawing billions of dollars from school funding," Hampton said.
"For John Tory or any other Conservative to now say, 'Oh, we have changed our path,' I think people are going to have a hard time accepting that."
Premier Dalton McGuinty is equally guilty for not fixing the education funding formula over the last four years, so it's obvious why he wants to spend his time attacking Tory over faith-based funding, Hampton said.
"It's really an effort by both of them to try to escape their mutual responsibility for the underfunding of our existing school system," he said. "They both know that they're at fault here."
Hampton is pledging to review the funding formula immediately after the Oct. 10 election, if elected, and to conduct annual reviews to ensure funding can be properly allocated as costs shift and increase within the system.
Hampton promises $200 extra per student
Hampton is also promising to establish a so-called Local Priorities Grant to give school boards $200 per student to address local needs.
The NDP estimates that parents raised about $515 million in the 2005-06 school year to pay for services schools couldn't afford — educational assistants, textbooks, science labs and gyms — and the local grants would alleviate that burden, Hampton said.
Tory is also calling for an immediate review of the funding formula after the election.
"It's time to … get that funding formula fixed and move forward to fix the schools," Tory told a listener on an Ottawa radio call-in show.
McGuinty has said he has already made several commitments to improve the funding formula and wants to see how they pan out before launching a review.
He's targeting 2010 as an appropriate time to review the funding formula.
The voting public, and especially parents, might be receptive to Hampton's call to expand the debate on education, said Annie Kidder of the advocacy group People for Education.
"I do think there may be a disconnect in a way between politicians arguing about one aspect of the education system and parents' (concerns)," Kidder said.
"I think that by bringing the focus back on either things that are more practical, or more of what parents deal with on a day-to-day basis, there is a way (for Hampton) to differentiate himself and it is something that parents in particularly feel more connected to."
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Ontario Votes 2007 »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
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More Ontario Votes Headlines »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
