Ontario Education is working, says McGuinty

Premier Dalton McGuinty kicked off the school year by visiting Markville Secondary School and meeting students whose Ontario education led them to an interest in robotics and who are now looking ahead to good jobs in the new economy.

PHOTO CREDIT - Wikipedia.com

Markville - Sep. 7, 2011 - Premier Dalton McGuinty kicked off the school year by visiting Markville Secondary School and meeting students whose Ontario education led them to an interest in robotics and who are now looking ahead to good jobs in the new economy.

"Ontario education is working - our relentless focus on learning is paying off,” said McGuinty. "The way I see it, there are two choices - aim for low-skill, low-wage jobs making things that can be made anywhere in the world or invest in people and education to build a high-skill, high-wage economy in Ontario producing goods no one else can make."

Since 2003, Ontario Liberals have been investing in students every step of the way - with things like lower class sizes, better school buildings and programs that keep students from dropping out of high school. As a result, test scores and the graduation rate are rising.

Now, there are 200,000 more students going on to postsecondary education than in 2003. So Ontario Liberals are making new investments to ensure they reach the next step: a good job in the new economy so they can build a good life for their kids.

Ontario Liberals are going to help families with a new tuition grant for full-time undergraduate students from lower- and middle-income families based on 30 per cent of the average tuition cost in Ontario, saving families $1,600 per student in university and $730 per student in college, annually.

"Ontario is competitive for many reasons - our tax system, our commitment to clean energy and public health care," said McGuinty. "But if we're going to out-compete other places tomorrow, we need to out-educate them today."

The last PC government brought cuts and conflict to classrooms. Now, the Hudak PCs have a $14 billion hole in their platform that would mean deep cuts in education. The disappointing NDP platform doesn’t even mention education and has a crushing $9 billion tax increase that will drag down the economy and kill jobs.

"Ontario Liberals are the only ones absolutely committed to building the most-educated workforce in the world so that Ontario families - today and tomorrow - can weather any challenge, seize all opportunities and continue building a great quality of life," said McGuinty.