Ford’s education cuts are hurting kids, not trustees

Public education in Ontario has faced years of cuts, and the cracks are now impossible to ignore. Teachers’ unions like the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FESSO) have long sounded the alarm. CUPE Ontario (the province’s largest union with more than 300,000 members) has joined them, demanding answers.

A new Abacus Data poll, commissioned by CUPE Ontario, surveyed 2,000 voting-age Ontarians between September 11^th and 13^th, 2025. The results, released on September 24^th, reveal a clear truth: most Ontarians blame Doug Ford’s Conservative government for starving schools of resources. They don’t blame trustees.

The Abacus Data poll highlights the public’s frustration:

• 57% say the main problem is underfunding, not school board trustees.
• 51% believe Ford’s government has shortchanged schools by billions since 2018.
• 57% agree trustees provide local accountability and a voice for parents.
• 56% say eliminating trustees won’t add more educational assistants, early childhood educators, or smaller class sizes.
• 46% believe the Ford government is manufacturing controversy to distract from its poor record.

These findings echo years of warnings. The OSSTF and ETFO estimate that underfunding has cost schools $1,500 per student. Since Ford took office in 2018, funding hasn’t kept up with inflation, or enrollment growth. The damage, they say, is permanent unless the government reverses course.

Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, put it bluntly, “Ontarians know the biggest problem for education is provincial underfunding. The cuts hurt students, schools, and education workers, not local trustees. In fact, Ontarians value trustees as democratic representatives of parents and communities.”

Joe Tegani, President of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) and an educational assistant himself, shared his concern, “Students and the educators who support them are at a breaking point. It’s time for Premier Doug Ford to listen to workers. Parents know the problem, and they are not buying this attempt to scapegoat trustees.”

Survey respondents expressed anger at Ford’s latest push, eliminating school boards. Many said they would rather see Education Minister Paul Calandra fired than lose elected trustees. Hahn called this an attack on democracy itself, “People see through this power grab. Ontarians would rather remove the minister than eliminate trustees who give parents a real voice.”

The poll suggests Ford’s strategy has backfired. Instead of shifting blame, it has spotlighted his government’s own failures.

The consequences are already visible. Larger class sizes, fewer supports for kids with special needs, crumbling schools, and burned-out staff. Underfunding shapes Ontario’s future workforce and society.

Parents, educators, and unions share a unified message; stop scapegoating, start funding. Unless the Ford government changes course, Ontario’s children will continue to pay the price.