For the third year in a row, the McGuinty government is boosting its investment in Ontario’s publicly funded schools to support continued improvement for the 30,720 students in the Sudbury area, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced today.

“We are on the side of families in Greater Sudbury who want the best public education for their children,” said Bartolucci “That’s why we’re investing an additional $8.1 million — for a total of $334 million — in our local schools to ensure primary class sizes keep shrinking, reading, writing and math achievement keeps improving, and more high school students graduate.” Bartolucci made the funding announcement at a Press Conference held at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Catholic Education Centre.

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board listens as Rick Bartolucci, MPP Sudbury delivers the breakdown of provincial funding for each of the City of Greater Sudbury’s four school boards for the 2006-2007 school year.

Total funding for 2006-07, and increases over 2005-06, break down as follows:

· Rainbow District School Board will receive $145,726,501, an increase of $4,892,134

· Conseil Scholair District du Grand Nord de l’Ontario will receive $40,470,725, an increase of $665,958

· Conseil Scholair District catholique du Nouvel-Ontario will receive $87,979,701, an increase of $552,791

· Sudbury Catholic District School Board will receive $62,436,880, an increase of $1,975,246

Earlier this month, the provincial government announced that the increased investment would support key government targets for higher student achievement, including seeing 75 per cent of 12-year-olds achieving the provincial standard in reading, writing and math by 2008, as well as 85 per cent of high school students graduating by 2010.

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board welcomes the increase in provincial funding. “This 3.3% increase will allow our Board to continue our emphasis on the creation of an environment for the success of every Early Learner, (JK to Grade 3) and deepen our commitment to serving all Special Needs Learners. The additional funding will also allow us to expand our students’ opportunities for learning through our Wireless Laptop Program and enrich the learning experience for all students by our continued emphasis on the seven Catholic Graduate Expectations,” stated Zubac.

In 2004-05, an average of 62 per cent of Ontario students met or exceeded the provincial standard in reading, writing and math, up from the average of 54 per cent who achieved that level in 2002-03. High school graduation rates also rose to 71 per cent, up from 68 per cent.

Next September will mark the third full year of the government’s extraordinary four-year funding increase for Ontario’s publicly funded schools. As announced in the 2006 Ontario Budget in March, there will also be $200 million more in 2006-07 outside the Grants for Student Needs that will target improved literacy and math levels, French-language programs, professional development for teachers and principals, Student Success initiatives, parent engagement and safe and healthy schools. Since coming to office, the McGuinty government has increased per pupil funding by almost $1,600 — an increase of 21 per cent.

“The bigger investment we make in education, the bigger responsibility we have to the people of Ontario,” said Bartolucci. “Parents and everyone involved in education need to know how our education dollars are being spent and how that money is benefitting our students.”