Special Education Report
All children deserve a high-quality education that recognizes their diverse needs and abilities. For decades, ETFO has advocated for Ontario’s public education system to mandate and fully fund the supports and programs necessary to make this goal a reality for children with disabilities.
In 2002, ETFO released Fulfilling the Promise: Ensuring Success for Students with Special Needs, a position paper that summarized issues in special education caused by the policy and funding changes made by the Mike Harris Conservative government. Informed by input from classroom education workers, the paper included recommendations for the Ontario Ministry of Education that would have supported the success of children with disabilities.
These recommendations were largely ignored and – 23 years later – the same issues in special education persist. In fact, they have worsened. Promises Unfulfilled serves as a renewed call to action to finally address the shortcomings of a failing system and ensure success for children with disabilities in Ontario.