April 13, 2017, Toronto Star: Province boosts education funding to $24B for next school year https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2017/04/13/province-boosts-education-funding-to-24b-for-next-school-year.html
Ontario is increasing education spending by almost 4 per cent to $23.8 billion in the next school year, with a focus on providing more special education support and reducing class sizes, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter announced Wednesday. …
The education funding includes money to hire hundreds more special education teachers and support workers based on local need, and capping class sizes in full-day kindergarten as well as grades 4 through 8.…
A 2015 People for Education survey found four out of five boards pay more for special education than they get from the province, and the strain is something the group hears about regularly from principals. …
The province “has made good on its commitment” during negotiations to increase special ed funding and allow school boards and unions to work together to allocate it based on local needs, Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, said in a statement.
But “there is still much work to be done to provide sufficient funding and resources for children with special needs,” added Hammond, whose union earlier this year raised the issue of increasing school violence linked to the shortage of support for children with behavioural and mental health issues.
Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.