The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) has released a report that shows local school boards aren't keeping up with their provincial counterparts when it comes to teaching reading, writing, and math. In fact, two local boards...the Near North and Franco Nord are among the worst in the province...occupying two of the last seven spots in a 72 board comparison in the 2021-22 school year.
The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) administers a province-wide standardized testing program each year to assess students' academic outcomes in those subjects. These test results are used by the Ministry of Education to measure the success of education policies and evaluate the performance of Ontario's education system.
In 2021-22, across all disciplines and grades, the FAO estimates that the province-wide average pass rate, the share of tests administered that were assessed as meeting or exceeding the provincial standard, was 67.7 per cent. None of the four local boards met the provincial average.
The Near North Board did very poorly in this regard. Its EQAO Pass Rate sits at 52.7% putting it at almost the bottom of the provincial list...67th out of 72 school boards.
In an October news release Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Melanie Gray said of this year's results, "Educators worked very hard to ensure students felt prepared for the assessment and their efforts have made a significant impact. While there is still much to do to improve student achievement and core academic skills across grade levels, the 2022-23 EQAO measures have demonstrated relative gains in both Grade 6 mathematics and the Grade 10 Literacy test.”
The English Catholic Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic DSB EQAO Pass Rate sits at 56.7% which is 57th in the province.
A news release from that board on 22-23 results says, "While achievement in Mathematics across the assessment areas remains below provincial standard, incremental progress reflecting an upward trend is noted in Grade 6 and Grade 9 Mathematics. Results in the Primary assessment reflect a small decrease over last year’s results and continue to be a key area of focus for improvement."
The French Public CSD du Nord-Est EQAO Pass Rate is at 61.1%, the highest of the local boards and 45th on the provincial list.
The French Catholic Franco-Nord also has a dismal EQAO Pass Rate of 52.6% putting it at 66 out of 72 boards.
By school system, the French Public school boards had the best performance overall, with an average EQAO pass rate of 74.2 per cent across all tested grades and disciplines, followed by French Catholic school boards, with a pass rate of 70.7 per cent.
The pass rates for the English Catholic and English Public school systems were 69.0 per cent and 66.8 per cent, respectively. Across all four school systems, on average, school boards that were more rural, more remote, more dispersed and smaller had lower average EQAO pass rates.
The report also examines how provincial funding is allocated to Ontario's 72 district school boards and reviews differences across English Public, English Catholic, French Public and French Catholic school systems.
In the 2021-22 school year, there were approximately 2.0 million children enrolled in Ontario's public schools.
The English Public school system is the largest, with 31 school boards and 1.3 million students enrolled in 2021-22, followed by the English Catholic system, with 29 school boards and 554,739 students, the French Catholic system, with eight school boards and 76,501 students, and the French Public system, with four school boards and 34,588 students.
In 2021-22, the Ministry of Education provided an estimated $26.7 billion in operating funding to school boards.
On a per-student basis, school boards received an average of $13,364 in provincial funding.
The local public Near North Board has an enrollment of 9,560. The provincial average is 27,746 so it sits 46th out of 72 boards.
Its per-student funding is $16,549 compared to the provincial average of $13,364.
See: Near North expects increased attendance next school year
Compare all the local boards here.
The Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic DSB has an enrollment of 2,706 and sits 62nd out of 72.
Its per-student funding is $18,826 which places it in 15th spot.
The French Public CSD du Nord-Est has an enrollment of 2,024 and sits 67th.
Its per-student funding is a whopping $27,268 placing it fifth-highest in the province.
The French Catholic Franco-Nord has an enrollment of 2,535 for 64th on the list.
Its per-student funding is $23,563 ranking it seventh highest in the province.
See 2022-23 results here.
By school system, on a per-student basis:
- English Public and English Catholic systems received $13,027 and $13,252, respectively.
- French-language school systems received higher per-student funding at $18,585 for the French Public system and $17,680 for the French Catholic system.
On average, French-system school boards received higher per-student funding because they had lower enrollment and some provincial grants provide a minimum fixed amount to each school board regardless of size, had higher dispersion (additional funding is provided to school boards with schools that are far apart from one another), were more remote (additional funding is provided to school boards with schools that are far from an urban centre), and received targeted French-language funding.
Read the full report here.
In the 2021-22 school year, school boards spent a total of $28.8 billion, or an average of $14,426 per student.
Generally, school boards with lower enrollment had higher total spending per student compared to larger school boards. In 2021-22, small school boards spent an average of $19,886 per-student, while medium-sized school boards spent $15,365 per-student and large school boards spent $13,851 per-student.
Overall, this reflects the ability of school boards with higher enrollment levels to spread fixed costs over a larger student population and therefore spend less per student. In addition, many of the smaller school boards are in locations that are remote, rural and dispersed, and may face higher costs for providing student transportation, as well as supplies, equipment and services.
Additional information for each school board is available on the FAO's website at: https://tinyurl.com/yh5xncud .
