in catch-up payments to parents — $200 or $250 per child — to pay for tutoring, supplies or equipment that enhance learning.
At Singh’s Kumon centre, she’s even seeing kids who don’t need catching up taking advantage of the private tutoring paid for by the board. Rather than make it available to all students, from Kindergarten to Grade 12, she thinks the board should have made it “needs-based,” requiring a referral from a teacher.
So far, her girls are “enjoying” tutoring, adding they seem “motivated,” and even “excited to read” because she’ll now see them at home immersed in a book, or doing homework. “That’s a lot of money that could’ve gone into publicly funded schools.... It just wasn’t possible, given the restraints. In a perfect world, we would rather that this didn’t happen.”
Elsewhere in the GTA, school boards have taken different approaches when it comes to partnering with private companies. For instance, neither Durham nor York’s public boards have contracted any. Meanwhile, Durham’s Catholic board has 27 companies providing $500 in tutoring, about 10 one-hour sessions, to its most vulnerable students — each school was allocated tutoring spaces based on enrolment, and whether it’s in a priority neighbourhood.
She says it was important the TDSB partner with local groups that have strong ties with students, noting, “We want to service kids in their neighbourhoods.” Sandra Pierre, beyond 3:30 program director, says the foundation wants to secure funding to run the tutoring program until June, noting, “Kids were already behind before the pandemic and COVID exacerbated it — some are now two years behind their peers.”
WTF! They just diverted $425 million or so to pay off the ‘catch up’ $200&$250 payments.
Seems that fordnation really does believe in low teacher to pupil ratios. Good news - the teachers' unions are bargaining new contracts right now.
Should i introduce legislation to make sure Tutors max out at 18$ an hour seems like a good idea
Money fordnation took out of Ontario and which would have been better spent in our educational system. 4 hours of tutoring will not get some students up to grade level
Why don't they invest millions in public schools, oh I forgot they are trying to destroy them.
'Pay to read our race bait!'
We keep pouring $Billions into classrooms, yet kids are falling further behind each year. Giving greedy teachers more does nothing for the kids.
Unless I missed something, school is available to everyone. please define inequities...and how are they exacerbated by tutoring? What exactly should they do? you don't know, but it all comes down to 'Ford is bad, rich people bad, RACISM! or some other leftist tripe
Some? Everyone, except for the rich, should be worrying about this.
Can these kids speak english well enough to learn other subjects?
Friends of Ford?
Diverting millions from classrooms won't exacerbate inequities anymore than they already were, even before the pandemic. Let's clear away the smoke and mirrors and focus on providing evidence-based support to children and youth, whether that be within or outside the classroom.
My son has to sit through 1000 of lectures about how white kids are inherently evil. Try cutting money from that fund
Its sad to think about but there are many greedy, shameless people out there who would rather kids never learn to read or write than learn in private centres...
Boards have plenty of money but waste it in ideologically-based pursuits to further their DIE & CRT initiatives instead of hiring EAs & putting in remedial programs
'catch up in a system pummelled by the pandemic' Uh, no. This is on the unions, full stop.
The system wasn't pummelled by the pandemic. It was pummelled by Teacher Unions and politicians who lacked courage.