Full-day kindergarten plan draws fire
January 8, 2010
Laurie Monsebraaten
Kristin Rushowy
Ontario's full-day kindergarten is hitting snags in Toronto, with some parents upset their schools aren't included and trustees concerned they will have to cut other programs to pay extra salary costs.
Meanwhile, City of Toronto officials question the government's plan to exclude before- and after-school care in the summer and other holidays for 4- and 5-year-olds, and to leave children aged 6 to 12 out of the program entirely.
They say it would be cheaper and easier for parents – and better for kids – if the program was extended.
Toronto children's services manager Petr Varmuza, who crunched the numbers, said it would cost parents $24 a day per child under the current proposal. Yet by offering it to more children for the entire year, it would cost less than $23 a day. That includes paying for an administrator, providing healthy lunches and snacks and year-round jobs for early childhood educators.
"For the province to limit extended-day programming to just 188 days (actual school days) makes no sense at all," Varmuza said.
Toronto trustee Irene Atkinson said the province is shortchanging the public board $817,000 in salaries for teachers and early childhood educators (ECEs) in the first year, which could force trustees to cut other programs.
The board will be behind $1.8 million in wages in the second year because provincial funding falls short of what the board pays its staff, she added.
"My personal feeling is that this is the most ill-conceived program I've ever encountered," she said.
A spokeswoman for Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said the province is funding salaries at a "benchmark level" based on wages across the province for early childhood educators.
"Boards will make their individual local decisions on ECE salary levels," said Michelle Despault. She also said boards are free to offer year-round child care.
Some 35,000 Ontario students will be enrolled in the program this fall. By 2015, all schools will have full-day learning for 4- and 5-year-olds at a cost of $1.5 billion a year. Students will be taught by a teacher and an early childhood educator, and offered before- and after-school care.
The province is expected to announce next week the final list of schools chosen for next fall.
Lima Ahmed, 30, who has a 4-year-old daughter in junior kindergarten at Crescent Town Elementary School, is outraged no schools in her east-end neighbourhood are on the list.
"We are all very disappointed our schools aren't included. We are one of the poorest areas of Toronto."
Sultana Jahangir of the South Asian Women's Rights Organization says her group has been fighting to bring more child care to the area so women can work and become more involved in their community.
"It is very frustrating for us," she said.
Toronto Star