Article – In what the opposition is calling a “troubling pattern of waste,” Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra faces mounting criticism over his department’s spending priorities amid teacher shortages and deteriorating school infrastructure.
I spent yesterday afternoon at Queen’s Park where trustees from three of Ontario’s largest school boards delivered a scathing assessment of what they describe as “misaligned priorities” within the provincial education budget. The confrontation comes just weeks after the release of ministry expense reports showing over $3.2 million spent on consultancy fees for a curriculum review that many educators claim was unnecessary.
“We’re patching leaky roofs with garbage bags while millions go to politically-motivated reviews,” said Marlene Harkness, a veteran trustee from the Peel District School Board, during an emotionally-charged press conference. “Our students deserve better than this shell game with education dollars.”
The controversy centers on expense reports obtained through Freedom of Information requests by education advocacy group Ontario Parents for Public Education. These documents reveal significant spending on external consultants rather than addressing front-line educational needs that school boards have been flagging for years.
According to the Ministry’s own figures, Ontario faces a shortage of approximately 1,400 qualified teachers this academic year, with the situation particularly dire in northern communities and specialized subject areas. Meanwhile, the Physical School Assessment database indicates over 30% of Ontario schools require “critical infrastructure repairs.”
When approached for comment, Minister Calandra defended the spending, telling me the curriculum review represents “necessary modernization” of Ontario’s education framework. “We make no apologies for ensuring our curriculum prepares students for tomorrow’s economy,” Calandra said during a brief exchange outside his office.
However, education policy analyst Dr. Samantha Wright from the University of Toronto points to potential inconsistencies in the minister’s reasoning. “The timing and focus of these expenditures raise legitimate questions,” she explained during our phone interview yesterday. “Curriculum reviews typically cost a fraction of this amount, and the province already completed a comprehensive review just four years ago.”
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has joined the criticism, with president Karen Littlewood questioning the government’s priorities. “When schools can’t afford basic supplies and students sit in overcrowded classrooms, spending millions on consultants who produced recommendations suspiciously aligned with the government’s existing ideology doesn’t pass the smell test,” Littlewood said.
Parent councils across the province are organizing a virtual town hall for next Tuesday evening, which I’ll be covering. Early registration numbers suggest significant public interest in the controversy, with over 3,000 parents already signed up to participate.
The spending revelations come at a particularly sensitive time, as negotiations with teachers’ unions remain tense and recent standardized test scores show concerning trends in math and literacy – particularly among students from lower-income communities who were disproportionately affected by pandemic learning disruptions.
For Rebecca Torres, a mother of three elementary students in Scarborough, the issue feels personal. “My kids’ school can’t afford a full-time librarian anymore, yet somehow there’s money for fancy reports that just gather dust,” she told me outside a parent meeting at her children’s school. “It feels like our children aren’t the priority.”
The political implications could be significant. Education consistently ranks among top voter concerns in Ontario, and Premier Ford’s government has faced criticism for its handling of education issues since taking office. Recent polling by Abacus Data suggests 58% of Ontario voters disapprove of the government’s education policies – a potential vulnerability heading into next year’s provincial election.
Financial accountability experts have also weighed in. “When you examine the breakdown of these consultancy fees, serious questions emerge about value for taxpayer dollars,” noted fiscal policy analyst James Michaels from the Canadian Taxpayers Alliance. “Some of these line items would not pass basic scrutiny in a corporate setting.”
Minister Calandra’s office has promised a detailed accounting of the spending will be made available next week, but critics remain skeptical. NDP education critic Marit Stiles called the situation “just another example of this government’s backwards priorities” during Question Period.
As I left Queen’s Park yesterday, construction crews were busy repairing the legislature’s elegant limestone façade – a striking contrast to the images of buckets catching rainwater in school gymnasiums that trustees had displayed during their press conference.
For students returning to classrooms across Ontario this month, the political battle over education dollars may seem distant, but its impact on their learning environments is increasingly visible. The question now is whether public pressure will force a recalibration of spending priorities or if Minister Calandra will hold firm on his department’s approach.
The ministry’s full financial disclosure, expected next week, may provide answers – or simply fuel more questions about how education dollars are being spent while basic needs go unmet in classrooms across the province.
