Ten Improvements To The Funding Formula Since 2003


March 19, 2007

Changes to the grants in 2007-08, including the three new grants created, top off the government’s 10 key improvements to the funding formula:

  1. More teachers – both in elementary and secondary schools
    • We are funding 4,800 teachers to reduce class sizes at the primary level
    • We are funding 1,900 new elementary specialist teachers for art, music, physical education, language and core subjects such as English, science and math
    • We are funding 1,900 student success teachers to help more high school students graduate.
  2. Peace and stability – addressing Dr. Mordechai Rozanski’s major findings by updating and increasing salary benchmarks to fund four-year agreements. For the first time in almost a decade, boards don’t have to use funding from other budget lines to pay for teacher salaries.
  3. Responding to local needs – changing the “one size fits all” formula to recognize the unique needs of:
    • Northern and rural boards to protect small schools from closing
    • French-language boards with additional support for early learning programs, more teachers and a new school construction program
    • Boards with declining enrolment with funding support to recognize that costs decline slower than revenue
    • All boards by creating the Program Enhancement Grant
  4. Meeting student needs – increasing funding for students at risk, English-as-a-Second-Language and Perfectionnement-du-fran ç ais programs and creating the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Supplement .
  5. Reflecting real costs – increasing benchmarks for fuel, utilities, salaries, benefits and other costs
  6. Providing school-based funding – creating the $1 billion School Foundation Grant so small schools and schools with declining enrolment get the stable funding they need and creating the Supported Schools Allocation
  7. Renewing our schools – funding a $4 billion investment to repair, rebuild and expand schools, and providing funding to make schools healthier and safer for students and staff
  8. Reforming special education – increasing the number of high-needs students receiving support, increasing funding for high-needs students at boards with growing enrolment and providing stable funding for high-needs students at boards with decreasing enrolment
  9. Improving transportation funding – encouraging boards to work together to improve service for students and to reduce costs
  10. Strengthening school-community partnerships – introducing annual funding to reduce fees that community groups pay to use schools after hours and providing funding to encourage parent engagement.

These changes have been driven by proven strategies to improve student achievement and by the recognition of school boards’ costs. Through all these changes, the government has made the funding system more transparent so that parents and the community can now clearly see how boards are spending the funding they receive.

These changes have created the best alignment between education funding and school costs since the funding formula was introduced in 1998. The formula recognizes that while some costs are similar around the province, some costs differ depending on the size of the board, the number and location of its schools and the characteristics of the student population. The formula reflects those differences so that all students receive the support they need to reach their full potential.

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