CORRECTING AND REPLACING “Ontario’s school boards are in severe crisis”: Survey of 12,000 CUPE education workers finds extreme underfunding and understaffing has caused widespread violence, burnout and lack of supports for students in York Region schools

26 February 2025

“ONTARIO’S SCHOOL BOARDS ARE IN SEVERE CRISIS”: SURVEY OF 12,000 CUPE EDUCATION WORKERS FINDS EXTREME UNDERFUNDING AND UNDERSTAFFING HAS CAUSED WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE, BURNOUT AND LACK OF SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN YORK REGION SCHOOLS

A recent survey of Ontario education workers including Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, Child and Youth workers, custodians, maintenance and trades workers, and school secretaries represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) shows that a severe crisis in underfunding has led to extreme understaffing, students’ needs going unmet, and increased violence in the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board. 

The CUPE-OSBCU survey included over 12,000 respondents from across Ontario, with close to 1500 from York region school boards. The survey points to a crisis of understaffing in all classifications, causing insufficient supports for students and staff in schools and the York community. School offices are overburdened by increasing demands, school cleaning suffers, and repairs are delayed or go undone.

Read the full CUPE-OSBCU Services Survey report for the York region.

CUPE locals 1734, 2331, 1571 and 1196 represent over 7500 members, including Educational Assistants, Child and Youth Workers, Registered Early Childhood Educators, secretarial staff, IT, custodial, maintenance and trades workers, student supervisors and other educational workers. 

This school year alone, York Region District School Board has faced a minimum of a $144 million cut to real per-pupil funding, York Catholic District School Board faced a real per-pupil cut of over $53 million. 

Many education workers at these school boards say they frequently face violent incidents at their workplace, with over 56 percent of Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers experiencing a violent incident every day. 

This severe underfunding leaves students and workers at risk because there are too few staff in schools. It also means students have their learning environments disrupted on a regular basis, creating an environment that is far from conducive to having the highest quality of education. 

CUPE education workers across the province are calling on the Ford government to immediately increase school board funding, adequately staff school boards so that education workers can do their jobs with dignity and respect and address the crisis of violence across Ontario school boards. 

The OSBCU represents more than 57,000 education workers in Ontario. 

Quotes: 

Joe Tigani, President of OSBCU: It is abundantly clear that the education system in Ontario is at a breaking point. For years, the Conservative government has continued to cut billions of dollars in funding to the education sector, causing extreme understaffing, increased violence against staff and students, and our students’ needs being neglected. There is no question that the Ford government has abandoned the education sector. The Ontario government must increase its investment in students and education workers and address this situation immediately. Students deserve better, parents deserve better, and our education workers deserve better.  

Mary Di Federico, President of CUPE 2331: The severe underfunding to school boards across Ontario has created a crisis in all schools, including York Catholic District School Board. Students with special needs are left without the support they need to manage their day. Kindergarten classes are overcrowded, and our youngest learners feel overwhelmed, especially when they are witness to violent outbursts. School offices that are the center of the school, and school libraries that should be the learning hub of schools, are lacking the necessary resources and staff to run properly. The cutbacks to funding impact the learning of every student and the working conditions of all staff. It is no longer sustainable to continue to do more with less.

Michelle Campbell, President of CUPE 1734: The public deserves to know the truth about what is happening inside York Region District School Board classrooms. Chronic underfunding, understaffing, and a lack of proper support services are creating unsafe environments for both students and education workers. CUPE 1734 members are holding schools together, but the system is stretched beyond its limits. Violence in schools is escalating, and the resources to keep students and staff safe are not there. Every day, education workers face kicking, biting, hitting, spitting, hair-pulling, and even severe assaults. Many staff are being injured, and students who need intensive support are not receiving it because there simply aren’t enough trained Educational Assistants in classrooms. We need more frontline staff to ensure all students can learn in a safe and supported environment. Staffing shortages also mean students are waiting too long for assistance, whether that is to de-escalate a struggling student or to meet their personal care needs, making this more than a matter of dignity; it is a matter of student well-being and safety. 

John Malcolm, President of CUPE 1196: Our maintenance and caretaking members at York Region District School Board are always the first ones in the schools at the beginning of the day and they’re always the last ones out. Our members ensure the safety for the staff and students at YRDSB so that they can come into a nice, clean, safe environment, rain or shine. The severe underfunding and understaffing has made it much harder for members to do their jobs right. The morale is low and they’re being overworked and understaffed. We just want the best for everybody in the building, but at some point we have to say enough is enough.

Antonia Bove, President of CUPE 1571: Not all education workers are in the classroom. Education workers also represent the backbone of operations, with much work being performed behind the scenes. We ensure that our schools are safe, clean, maintained, and healthy for our students, staff, and stakeholders. Water testing, fire inspections & safety checks, always ensuring that all regulatory requirements are met. Keeping our buildings accessible and safe, even through these winter storms. We maintain operations, so that your children can learn.

Numbers at a Glance: 

The York Region District School Board has faced a minimum of a $144 million cut to real per-pupil funding in 2024-25. The York Catholic District School Board has faced a minimum of a $53 million cut to real per-pupil funding in 2024-25. 
55 percent of members say they do unpaid work for the school boards, effectively subsidizing schools to make up for the lack of funding. Extrapolating the amount of unpaid work reported to the entire membership of these locals, an equivalent of 190.8 Full-Time Equivalent jobs worth of unpaid work are done by CUPE members. 
86 percent of respondents say they feel stress due to an excessive workload. 
75 percent of all respondents say they experience violent or disruptive incidents in their work area. 96 percent Educational Assistants or Child and Youth Workers experience violent or disruptive incidents in their workplace, 57 percent say it happens every day. 
75 percent of respondents say there are not enough people employed in their own job classification at the school board or in their school. 84 percent of respondents said that services for students, staff, or the school community would be improved with more staff in their classification.

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For more information, contact: 

Shannon Carranco, CUPE Communications
scarranco@cupe.ca
514-703-8358