Local ETFO President urges province to boost special education funding in upcoming budget

An empty classroom is seen in this undated file photo. (Source: iStock, DONGSEON_KIM)

A call for more funding to special education in the upcoming provincial budget.

Ontario’s budget will be released Thursday afternoon, and the most recent update in February projected a $13.4-billion deficit for the 2025-2026 year.

Mario Spagnuolo, the local president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) says he’s hoping the province will reverse cuts made to public education - specifically to services for students with special needs.

Spagnuolo says of the 72 district school boards in Ontario, 70 of them are spending more money than they received from the province on special education - resulting in many boards operating in a deficit.

He adds that a “no-cost” action that the province can could do is repealing Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act, which passed in November 2025. This bill increases provincial oversight of school boards, mandates School Resource Officer (police) programs, and alters post-secondary student fees.

He says ETFO joined a rally at Queens Park on Monday to protest with the Ontario Autism Coalition over cuts to services.

“Families from across Ontario on the first day back of the legislature trying to get the attention of MPPs to reverse the cuts that have been happening, and deal with the backlog of students with autism that have not gotten the services... I think it’s like 52,000 kids are waiting for proper services from the government.”

Spagnuolo says when there’s 70 of 72 boards spending more money on special education than they’re provided - there’s a problem.

“That’s a chronic issue, it’s not that school boards are not using their money wisely, this is a chronic issue that needs to be dealt with and the only way to deal with that is to have serious conversations with the provincial government, with the Minister of Education, and our local MPPs to say we can’t stand by a government that is letting these kids go without the services they need.”

He says the provincial government is wasting time and resources on an EQAO panel when the Liberals had three well known educators conduct a study years ago.

“That was kind of dropped when this new government was elected, yet that was a non-partisan panel that was established that came out with some very good recommendations, one of which was to move to a sample EQAO - so across the province not having every kid write the test to save some money - also to make it more authentic. I mean there was a list of recommendations, the work was already done.”

Spagnuolo says the union also continues to push the provincial government to meet at the bargaining table early as contracts for teachers and education workers expire at the end of this summer.

He says there’s been little movement on that front but they will be holding a rally at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, at Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie’s office.

-with files from AM800’s The Kyle Horner Show