Source: Fraser Institute
Ontario students have been falling behind for years, and the data make the problem hard to ignore. According to PISA results, math scores in the province dropped by the equivalent of nearly two grade levels between 2000 and 2022. Reading scores also declined, leaving students roughly half a year behind where they once stood. The Fraser Institute’s latest commentary argues that the Ford government still has not confronted the deeper issues driving this decline.
Since taking office in 2018, successive education ministers have talked about improvement while largely leaving the structure of the system intact. Current minister Paul Calandra has taken some concrete steps, placing several school boards under provincial supervision and limiting the powers of trustees. He has also moved to make attendance count toward high school marks and to bring police officers back into schools to address violence. These measures address real problems of governance, safety, and absenteeism.
What remains missing are the reforms with the greatest potential to raise performance. Ontario is one of only a handful of provinces that still refuse to let any portion of education funding follow students to independent schools chosen by their parents. Other provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec, already allow this. Charter schools, which operate as autonomous public schools outside traditional board control, are also off the table in Ontario even though Alberta has used them successfully for years.
Curriculum is another weak point. The commentary calls for rewriting subject guides so they emphasize academic content and knowledge acquisition rather than the thinner frameworks currently in place. Getting back to basics is not a slogan. It is a practical response to measurable declines in core skills.
Ontario cannot afford another decade of gradual academic erosion. The government has shown it is willing to intervene when boards mismanage funds or fail basic responsibilities. Extending that seriousness to school choice and curriculum would give more families real options and give more students a stronger foundation. The current approach of managing a declining system is not enough. The province needs reforms that actually change what students learn and where they can learn it.
