Ministry of Education Secretly Funds Challenges to Unlawful RFPs
Liberal Gov't used $1.6M from fund supporting Safe Schools and Autism Programs to pay private law firms
London, ON – Court documents reveal that the Liberal government has authorized Education Program (EPO) Funding to be used to pay $1.6 million to two private law firms to fight small school bus operators in court. EPO or “Education Program – Other” funding includes grants to school boards for Autism Training and Safe Schools programs.
School bus operators were forced to take school boards and their transportation consortia to court in 2012 to challenge a flawed new process for awarding school bus routes. Since then, school bus operators have won in court 5 times but have now learned that the government is using money meant for the classroom to prolong the litigation. A Task Force in 2011 recommended an Independent Review - the government ignored the findings. When school boards have wanted to withdraw unfair RFPs and negotiate fair contracts with operators, the Liberal government has prevented them from doing so and agreed to pay private law firms so that their transportation consortia would resist the cancellation. In London, nearly $400,000 of EPO funding was used on the unsuccessful 2013 court challenge of SWOSTS, for the Thames Valley and London Catholic School Boards. “The Liberal government has completely mismanaged this file,” according to Karen Cameron, Executive Director of the Independent School Bus Operators Association. Corina Morrison, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the London Anti-Bullying Coalition believes parents will be outraged that funding for educational programs was instead used to pay for unnecessary litigation. Karen Sebben (Exec Director of York Region Anti Bullying Coalition) said "How can this government stand with us against bullying when it is clear they don't recognize the behavior in themselves?" In 2009, then Minister of Education Wynne promised a moratorium when pilot projects proved the RFP process was not fair to small rural operators. She failed to keep her promise. A new You Tube video documents the school bus industry’s saga. The video, called “The Biggest Bully on the Bus”, tells the story of family businesses that were "thrown under the bus", and the lengths the industry is going to fight for safe, affordable bussing. In 2013, ISBOA members served 3400 of the 18,000 daily school bus routes in Ontario. Many members are second and third generation businesses who have served their communities for years, providing safe, quality services at a fair price.