Focus on Waste:

Student Transportation Funding in Ontario

 
The proposed new model for student transportation funding in Ontario is discussed in a recent Ministry of Education discussion paper entitled "Equitable Allocation Through a New Funding Model for Student Transportation in Ontario."  It promises to be a fair model because it considers the actual needs of each school board by looking at the actual distance each board must transport their students to get them to school.  It recognizes the inherent disadvantages faced by rural boards, whose students have longer average commutes due to the lower population density in rural areas.  A basic premise behind the proposed new model is that the longer the average commute, the higher the level of transportation funding required.  In this article, we consider that the existence of duplicate public and separate school systems serving the same geographic area guarantees that both systems suffer longer than necessary average commutes and thus require a higher level of transportation funding.
 
Busing is probably the most obvious and glaring example of waste in our school system.  By forcing each school system to travel farther from their schools to find students than they would have to if a single system were in place, both systems incur higher costs.  In a single system, many students who are currently bused past their nearest publicly-funded school on the way to their own school would not even be eligible for busing; they would walk.  For those students who still had to be bused in a single system, the average commute to school would be shorter, in time and distance.  Running the bus fleet for fewer total hours would also mean lower salary costs, lower maintenance costs, and less harm to our environment through greenhouse gas emissions.
 
To illustrate the negative consequences of unnecessary duplication on student transportation costs, let's consider an example.  Under a single school system, 3 out of 3 students would attend public school (discounting the small percentage electing to use non-publicly funded options).  Under Ontario's current duplicative school system, roughly 2 out of 3 students attend public schools while 1 out of 3 attend separate schools.  Assuming an even distribution of students and schools in a given area (a simplifying assumption for illustrative purposes; admittedly hypothetical), the duplicate system requires that public board catchment areas be 50% larger than in a single system to realize the same number of students.  That is because while 3 out of 3 students in each cluster of 3 could be had in a single system, the public board can count on only 2 out of 3 in the duplicate system.  For the separate board, the duplicate system requires that catchment areas in our example be a staggering 200% larger than in a single system.  That is because while 3 out of 3 students in each cluster of 3 could be had in a single system, the separate board can count on only 1 out of 3 in the duplicate system.  Is this good stewardship of scarce educational resources?  Be sure to let the Premier (The Hon. Dalton McGuinty), the Minister of Education (The Hon. Gerard Kennedy), and the Minister of Finance (The Hon. Greg Sorbara) know what you think.
 
Higher classroom spending, smaller class sizes, closer neighbourhood schools (truly neighbourhood schools including all of the kids in a neighbourhood), shorter bus commutes, and an end to religious discrimination in admissions and hiring are all within reach in a single public school system.  Our Premier wants to be known as the Education Premier?  Carpe Diem, Mr. Premier.  Seize the day.
 

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