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Ontario faces constitutional challenge over disability funding
Ontario is discriminating against disabled students in private, faith-based schools by refusing to fund certain ailments, say a group of parents who have launched a constitutional challenge against the McGuinty Liberal government.
The parents of the eight children say their kids are only eligible for funding for certain disabilities. If they are blind, deaf or learning disabled, they are out of luck.
“Students are forced to make a choice between their religion and their disability,” says Ira Walfish, a spokesman for the group.
At the root of the dispute is a distinction between disabilities covered by the province’s Ministry of Health – which are provided free to all children – and those funded by the Ministry of Education, which are only provided to publicly-funded schools. Blind, deaf and learning-disabled students are judged to be the responsibility of education, and thus are denied funding when they attend private schools, say the parents.
Walfish calls the distinction “ridiculous” and “artificial”.
“You can’t pick and choose, you can’t slice and dice, disabilities,” he says. “There’s no logic to fund (certain) disabilities and not fund all the disabilities.”
The situation is most noticeable in children receiving speech therapy, says Walfish. Certain afflictions, such as stuttering, swallowing disorders and voice disorders, are considered medical conditions. But children who have language disorders (who, for example, are unable to translate thoughts into verbal expression) are judged to have educational needs. The same speech pathologist treats all cases, but will be funded through one of two ministries.
“We have cases of students getting help, and then when it crosses this almost imaginary line of health to education it has to stop, because it becomes an education issue,” says Walfish.
The families (seven of whom are Jewish and one Muslim) include the parents of 14-year-old Dayna Bluestein, a deaf girl who transferred to public school when she was 11. Bluestein says she is now given a free electronic listening device, access to special teaching assistants and a carpeted classroom (which cuts down on jarring noises) – all of which her parents would have to pay for if she were to transfer back to a Jewish day school.
“I really don’t think it’s fair that I can’t go to the school of my choice,” said Bluestein, who lost her hearing due to meningitis at age four and now hears with the help of a cochlear implant. “Something should be done.”
Roman Catholics are the only religious group in Ontario whose schools are publicly funded. The constitutionally-enshrined arrangement dates back to 1867, when Catholics were a religious minority.
In the 2007 provincial election, faith-based funding became the predominant issue after then-Conservative leader John Tory suggested extending full funding to other religions.
The Conservatives were soundly defeated in that election, largely because of their stance on that issue.
Walfish, who leads an organization that supported the Conservative proposition, insisted Tuesday his group was not trying to resuscitate the same battle.
Lawyer Allan Kaufman, however, acknowledged the current constitutional challenge is linked to the funding issue. He said faith-based schools faced a “blatantly discriminatory situation in Ontario, where only one religion is funded.”
“Does Ontario really want to push that down to the level of the disabled and start discriminating against the disabled because they’re the wrong religion?” he said.
Ontario’s Education Minister, Kathleen Wynne, defended the current system.
“There are services available to any child who comes into the publicly-funded education system for any of those educational needs,” she told reporters. “So that is the most fair delivery of services we can provide.”
Liberal Health Minister David Caplan refused to answer questions about the funding arrangement Tuesday, instead repeatedly referred questions to Wynne.
The latest suit follows on the heels of an unsuccessful court challenge by parents of autistic children, who were trying to force the government to pay for an expensive therapy that costs between $30,000 and $80,000 per child annually.
Kaufman said the current court case, originally filed in June 2007, is different from the autism challenge.
“In the autism case, the families were seeking a huge amount of money,” he said, noting the government successfully argued it had the right to “close the vault” on autistic children. “The second reason the government succeeded was that the therapy the parents wanted was not proven scientifically to work.”
The case will be heard in Toronto court May 27 and 28, says Mr. Kaufman.
Ontario is discriminating against disabled students in private, faith-based schools by refusing to fund certain ailments, say a group of parents who have launched a constitutional challenge against the McGuinty Liberal government.
The parents of the eight children say their kids are only eligible for funding for certain disabilities. If they are blind, deaf or learning disabled, they are out of luck.
“Students are forced to make a choice between their religion and their disability,” says Ira Walfish, a spokesman for the group.
At the root of the dispute is a distinction between disabilities covered by the province’s Ministry of Health – which are provided free to all children – and those funded by the Ministry of Education, which are only provided to publicly-funded schools. Blind, deaf and learning-disabled students are judged to be the responsibility of education, and thus are denied funding when they attend private schools, say the parents.
Walfish calls the distinction “ridiculous” and “artificial”.
“You can’t pick and choose, you can’t slice and dice, disabilities,” he says. “There’s no logic to fund (certain) disabilities and not fund all the disabilities.”
The situation is most noticeable in children receiving speech therapy, says Walfish. Certain afflictions, such as stuttering, swallowing disorders and voice disorders, are considered medical conditions. But children who have language disorders (who, for example, are unable to translate thoughts into verbal expression) are judged to have educational needs. The same speech pathologist treats all cases, but will be funded through one of two ministries.
“We have cases of students getting help, and then when it crosses this almost imaginary line of health to education it has to stop, because it becomes an education issue,” says Walfish.
The families (seven of whom are Jewish and one Muslim) include the parents of 14-year-old Dayna Bluestein, a deaf girl who transferred to public school when she was 11. Bluestein says she is now given a free electronic listening device, access to special teaching assistants and a carpeted classroom (which cuts down on jarring noises) – all of which her parents would have to pay for if she were to transfer back to a Jewish day school.
“I really don’t think it’s fair that I can’t go to the school of my choice,” said Bluestein, who lost her hearing due to meningitis at age four and now hears with the help of a cochlear implant. “Something should be done.”
Roman Catholics are the only religious group in Ontario whose schools are publicly funded. The constitutionally-enshrined arrangement dates back to 1867, when Catholics were a religious minority.
In the 2007 provincial election, faith-based funding became the predominant issue after then-Conservative leader John Tory suggested extending full funding to other religions.
The Conservatives were soundly defeated in that election, largely because of their stance on that issue.
Walfish, who leads an organization that supported the Conservative proposition, insisted Tuesday his group was not trying to resuscitate the same battle.
Lawyer Allan Kaufman, however, acknowledged the current constitutional challenge is linked to the funding issue. He said faith-based schools faced a “blatantly discriminatory situation in Ontario, where only one religion is funded.”
“Does Ontario really want to push that down to the level of the disabled and start discriminating against the disabled because they’re the wrong religion?” he said.
Ontario’s Education Minister, Kathleen Wynne, defended the current system.
“There are services available to any child who comes into the publicly-funded education system for any of those educational needs,” she told reporters. “So that is the most fair delivery of services we can provide.”
Liberal Health Minister David Caplan refused to answer questions about the funding arrangement Tuesday, instead repeatedly referred questions to Wynne.
The latest suit follows on the heels of an unsuccessful court challenge by parents of autistic children, who were trying to force the government to pay for an expensive therapy that costs between $30,000 and $80,000 per child annually.
Kaufman said the current court case, originally filed in June 2007, is different from the autism challenge.
“In the autism case, the families were seeking a huge amount of money,” he said, noting the government successfully argued it had the right to “close the vault” on autistic children. “The second reason the government succeeded was that the therapy the parents wanted was not proven scientifically to work.”
The case will be heard in Toronto court May 27 and 28, says Mr. Kaufman.