Manitoba’s public schools will see another increase in funding, the province’s education minister announced Friday.
Cliff Cullen said the Funding of Schools Program is getting another $20.8 million for the 2021-22 school year — a total that includes a $6.7-million increase to base funding for schools, as well as $5.5 million for special needs funding.
“This announcement continues our commitment to the success of students by making record levels of annual investment in our student’s education while also keeping our students, teachers and staff safe,” said Cullen.
“Our education system is one of the best-funded in Canada, and parents need to know that our government will continue to support their children’s futures.”
Cullen said the funding is part of the province’s commitment that school divisions wouldn’t suffer a reduction in funding due to COVID-19-related enrolment issues.
Not everyone is celebrating the announcement, however.
Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont said, in a statement Friday, that boasting about record funding during a pandemic is akin to boasting about “doing record amounts of bailing when the ship is going under.”
“Today’s announcement will leave Manitoba’s education system deep in the hole. Schools and school divisions are facing massive, unmet extra costs because of COVID-19,” said Lamont.
“It has to be said that the NDP is complicit in the years of neglect of school infrastructure.
“Under the NDP, the provincial share of education continually dropped, and its current MLAs include school trustees who ignored urgent infrastructure needs like ventilation, which haven’t been fixed for 40 years.”
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