NDP question delay on new education funding model

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

School division leaders want a simpler education funding formula that takes into account socio-economic factors, allows for long-term planning and earmarks more dollars to both support Indigenous students and integrate traditional knowledge into classrooms.

A summary of Manitoba’s consultations with K-12 stakeholders on how it pays for public schools — obtained by the official Opposition via freedom of information request — reveals existing shortcomings and a blueprint for an updated funding formula.

The 20-page “draft framework” draws on feedback provided by all 37 public school districts and other education groups.

It concludes the new model will: allocate resources based on student need; give boards more flexibility on spending to meet local needs; outline clear reporting requirements; ensure divisions can plan for the future; and be straightforward so the public can understand how it works.

Every winter, Manitoba announces how much money each division will receive for the coming school year using a now 20-year-old formula that looks at population size and transportation needs, among numerous line items.

Urban and rural superintendents have long raised concerns the process does not allow for multi-year planning, and the model itself is convoluted and includes a problematic equalization process that perpetuates inequities among schools.

A modern model was anticipated to be in place for the 2023-24 school year, but Education Minister Wayne Ewasko recently announced its implementation would be delayed by a year, until after the October provincial election.

The Manitoba NDP held a news conference Jan. 19 to question the delay and release an August presentation on stakeholder consultations, drawing specific attention to a page outlining the scope of the funding review.

NDP leader Wab Kinew told reporters it raises concerns that the province wants to implement sweeping changes but not entertain the system’s needs nor share how it will replace property tax revenue when those fees are phased out entirely.

The internal document states the review team was tasked with developing a new model and members were directed not to determine whether existing K-12 dollars are adequate or identify revenue sources to compensate for the changes to education property taxes.

The NDP’s education critic called the Tories’ approach “counterintuitive.”

“Why wouldn’t we talk about if funding is adequate? That’s the whole point of having public-school funding,” said Nello Altomare, MLA for Transcona.

Despite the limited scope, the consultation summary indicates participants raised concerns about the loss of local taxation powers restraining their resources, rising expenses related to transportation and challenges managing within administrative spending caps.

It states the francophone division is grappling with the same budget challenges as English divisions, in addition to the costs of recruiting French teachers and translating materials.

The education minister said the province is listening to its K-12 partners and the new funding formula will address their critiques.

“We know that the old system was unfair, inequitable. We’re listening. We’re getting it done — but, at the same time, we want to make sure it’s done right and it’s not something easy, because if it was easy work, the NDP would’ve did it a long time ago when all the stakeholders were asking for it,” he said.

Ewasko refuted the claim the Tories are not looking at funding levels. Manitobans can expect an announcement about 2023-24 dollars in the coming weeks, he said, adding divisions can expect “more money.”

Government documents show the province had spent about $650,000 on the funding review by late September.

Manitoba first announced the initiative in November 2021, citing the K-12 commission’s recommendation to examine the model and “ensure an equitable distribution of education funding across the province.”

Desperate rural schools hiring uncertified substitute ‘teachers’

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER,

Winnipeg Free Press

A nationwide shortage of teachers is forcing Manitoba’s rural school divisions to hire figure skating coaches, Girl Guides leaders and other adults without certification to fill in for absent classroom educators.

Sunrise, Western and Brandon are among the divisions turning to substitutes who have few qualifications aside from a personal interest in working with children and satisfactory criminal record checks.

“It’s not as good as having a qualified, trained teacher in front of kids — but it’s way better than having no teacher… cancelling classes, or combining or having really huge classes,” said Sunrise superintendent Cathy Tymko, who oversees operations across 19 schools in communities including Anola, Beausejour and Oakbank.

The division has added more than 50 uncertified in- dividuals to its ranks since November, which is when hiring managers opened applications and started actively advertising them to people without a teaching degree or formal post-secondary education.

The division’s posting states interested candidates need to demonstrate kindness, patience and respect for all students; follow a plan left by a classroom teacher; and maintain strict confidentiality.

A similar advertisement from Western, based in Morden, encourages people with experience coaching, providing child care or serving in youth leadership positions, as well as university students, to apply for substitute personnel roles. Education stakeholders attribute a worsening shortage of qualified substitutes available for hire in rural regions to urbanization, an aging population and increasingly complex student needs and classroom compositions.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a surge in sick days and made typical substitutes — including retired teachers, who have historically accounted for a significant portion of the workforce — prioritize health concerns over employment opportunities.

“It keeps me active and, basically, I take gigs that I enjoy. I take jobs that make me smile,” said David Harkness, a retired teacher who often picks up substitute opportunities at Winnipeg’s Nelson McIntyre Collegiate.

“The staff and administration there appreciate me and support me when I’m there. For me, it’s a very friendly, positive environment. That’s not the case for everyone, but if it were that way in every case, I don’t think (divisions) would be advertising for uncertified people as much.”

The Retired Teachers’ Association of Manitoba has been surveying mem- bers on their substituting habits in recent months in an effort to better understand their experiences and advocate for improved working conditions. Data shows nearly double the number of retiree members who do substitute work in urban divisions, including Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Selkirk and Thompson, compared to rural areas.

The cost of frequent criminal record checks, unsupportive work environments, inaccessible parking, limited pay and job unpredictability — for instance, when a substitute shows up prepared for one posting and is redirected to another role with no advance notice — all dissuade people from picking up casual work, said Harkness, acting chairman of the RTAM’s substitute committee.

The career educator noted concerns about personal health have skyrocketed throughout the pandemic.

Seniors felt they could at least make informed decisions about risk levels when the province was regularly updating information about COVID-19 cases on a public dashboard, he added.

One school staff member in Sunrise, who agreed to an interview on the condition of anonymity, said they recently worked with an uncertified substitute who is “fresh from high school” and witnessed the freshly minted employee grapple with managing a classroom.

“You’re not a babysitter. This is a serious position,” said the veteran staffer, adding they do not understand why the division is not tapping educational assistants to provide coverage because they at least have some formal educational training in comparison to many of the newest recruits.

“I think you need a little bit more (training) than, ‘I like kids.’ It’s sad it’s gotten to this point.”

Every school day counts and the problem with relying on unqualified substitutes is that they are both unfamiliar with school culture and effective methods and practices, the president of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society said.

“Do you want an untrained individual in a hospital acting as a nurse? We absolutely don’t. Well, the same thing is true about our school system. We don’t want an individual who hasn’t been properly educated and trained in that classroom because what potentially suffers then is the education of our young people,” said union leader James Bedford.

Bedford said the teaching profession needs to look more attractive to young people. That requires a well-funded public education system, so enough young educators are added to the K-12 system and permanent postings do not become the next ones to go unfilled.

Majority of Manitobans would support redirect of school tax rebates: poll

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE

REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Nearly six in 10 Manitobans would rather the province forgo distributing education property tax rebates this year and spend those dollars on social services instead.

A new Probe Research survey, commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, concluded 58 per cent of adults provincewide would prefer the Stefanson government redirect rebate dollars to support hospitals, schools and roads.

One-third of respondents said they would prefer property owners receive a cheque in 2023. Nine per cent indicated they were unsure.

The public opinion poll was conducted via online form between Nov. 22 and Dec. 5, 2022. It reflects responses from a representative sampling of 1,000 adults who live in Manitoba, the overwhelmingly majority of whom were randomly re- cruited by a live-agent operator and 237 members of a polling firm’s online panel.

“On average, property owners will get about $775 each. These rebates will mean the provincial government has about $450 million less to spend on public services like health care, education and infrastructure,” states an excerpt from the poll that led to a question about how respondents would prefer those dollars be spent.

Molly McCracken, director of the CCPA’s Manitoba chapter, said the results suggest the public is generally concerned about the state of the health-care system and fallout of provincial K-12 education funding not keeping up with inflation.

“Year over year, school divisions are getting less money and we’re seeing that on the ground now with larger classes, lack of mental health supports, longer bus rides for children, things like that,” she said Jan. 20..

“The taxes we pay are con- nected to the services that we get.”

The province should be launching targeted funding initiatives, if leaders are serious about wanting to support Manitobans affected by the affordability crisis, McCracken said, noting many wealthy property owners are receiving sizable rebate cheques.

Urban dwellers, women and post-secondary graduates were all more likely to support a redirection of the rebate funds than their counterparts.

Forty per cent of those who voted PC in the last provincial election agreed the money would be better spent on public services. The percentage of NDP voters in agreement with that statement was double that figure.

A government spokesperson touted the fact the province is increasing the education property tax rebate initiative, the most significant rebate in Manitoba’s history, to 50 per cent this year.

“We remain focused on employing a strong, fiscal foundation that provides better services to all Manitobans. This includes taking a careful and disciplined approach to managing expenditures while protecting and investing in frontline services,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“At the same time, Manitobans are feeling the squeeze from rising costs, and so we are lowering taxes to make life more affordable.”

The survey’s margin of error is within 3.1 percentage points of what the general results would have been had Manitoba’s entire adult population been surveyed.

A series of telephone town halls and in-person meetings on the spring budget will begin later this month, the province announced Jan. 20.