Doug Fords actions will have little bearing on federal election results. The protests today were for relatively minor cuts to education based on shrinking enrolment in Ontario schools. The class size issue is overblown. The only real issue is the mandatory e-learning which I am hoping will be more flexible since it’s not suited for everyone but it is good exposure to future work training as that’s mostly eLearning. The devil is in the details of how they roll that piece out.
The class size issue is a larger issue than you give it credit for.
Here's the problem.
Lifting the 'average' to 28, means for you expect a fluctuating number, let's say, between 22-34 (6 up or 6 down). Though this runs into questions of what a minimum size is to run a course section......but I digress
Even w/this very low level of fluctuation, I can tell you there are very few science labs set up w/more than 24 stations in Ontario schools (some have less).
My niece has a science class w/24 in it now, in which students have to 'share' lab space.
Most computer labs don't exceed this size either.
Even many general high school class rooms are very full and near their fire code limits, which are often as low as 25; sometimes 30 may be physically possible.
Ontario has simply not built class rooms for 30+ in generations, if ever.
An average of 28 simply isn't workable; a CAP of 28 should be, at most schools.
But the proposal doesn't lift a cap, it lifts the average.
The key to this is the funding formula.
If you assume that good education in science and comp. sci means each student gets their own work station; a system wide refit is a non-starter in the near term...........
That means those classes are capped at between 18-24 depending on classroom set up.
Let's saw them off in the middle at 21............they represent about 20% of High School Courses...........
That makes the 'average' for the rest more like 30........
There is a serious mathematical problem here.
Schools have neither the desks nor the space for classes of this size, totally apart from teacher-student ratio.
Its too big a move, on a systemic basis, all at once.
It is also contra-indicated by the best academic research; which shows optimal class size for achievement varies between 15-22; though can skew higher in lecture-format courses.
Regardless its a problem. Were it implemented selectively, and with a clear capital plan to meet space requirements; and phased in over a reasonable period, it might be defensible; but alas, it is none of those.