Time for a new, equitable education funding formula

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2025 (269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has announced its funding for schools and, yet again, it has created confusion among school boards and anxiety for home and business owners who are concerned their property taxes could increase.

The news release issued by the province on Monday refers to a “nearly five per cent increase in school funding for 2025-26,” with Education Minister Tracy Schmidt quoted as saying that “This year’s funding increase goes beyond the rate of inflation and is consistent with last year’s funding increase, giving school divisions confidence in stable funding to help them best allocate their budgets.”

Neither of those statements are accurate. Provincial spending on education is rising by 3.4 per cent overall — the same as last year — which is not “almost” five per cent. Beyond that, the “backgrounder” document that accompanied the new release reveals that the funding increase for 11 of the 37 school divisions in the province — including nutrition funding — is actually growing by less than the current 1.8 per cent inflation rate.

Those inaccuracies are troubling, but of even greater concern is the fact that the announcement was made so late, and that the province is using the same confusing and convoluted education funding formula as it did last year, despite the fact that it had promised to bring in a new funding formula for the upcoming fiscal year.

In the Feb. 1, 2024 new release that announced last year’s funding, former education minister Nello Altomare was quoted as saying that “Funding will be stable and predictable for divisions while we develop a new funding model for the next fiscal year.” That new model is nowhere to be seen, and current minister Schmidt told the media on Monday that the overhaul is ongoing and the government has revived an advisory group on the issue.

She says that “We can all agree that the school funding formula needs some work — that the way that it exists today, without necessary adjustments, perpetuates somewhat we might call inequities,” but where is the sense of urgency to fix the problems? An entire year has been wasted, and the advisory committee is only being “revived” now?

The reality is that, yet again, the government has failed to give school divisions all of the funding they need in order to provide the quality of education that Manitoba’s children deserve. And, yet again, home and business owners throughout the province will be forced to cover the shortfall through higher property taxes.

That’s unfair and inequitable for two reasons: First, it forces one segment of the province’s population — property owners — to shoulder the burden of covering the funding shortfall, while exempting those who do not own properties. That’s why most, if not all, other Canadian provinces no longer rely on property taxes to fund education.

Second, the current funding formula favours school divisions that have high property assessment bases (most notably, the Winnipeg School Division), while punishing those that do not (for example, many rural school divisions). School divisions with low assessment bases are forced to choose between large property tax increases or reducing staff and programming options. That squeeze creates the potential for two-tier education in the province, and that’s not fair to low-assessment communities and the students who live there.

Beyond those concerns, the reality is that the current funding has become so complicated that it takes a number of days of analysis before school divisions have a clear sense of how the announced funding impacts their draft budgets.

“They do this every year,” says Brandon School Division board of trustees chair Linda Ross. “They put out this media release, and then nobody can comment on it because we don’t know what it means for us.”

All of these problems illustrate the need for serious change, and soon. There must be an equitable funding formula that ensures all Manitobans bear the burden of paying for education — and that means finally abandoning property taxes as a source of revenue.

Beyond that, there is no excuse for the government delaying the funding announcement until early February each year, as it needlessly impairs school divisions’ budget planning. If the funding for municipal governments can be announced in November or December, the same should be true for school divisions.

Our NDP government promised a new education funding formula a year ago, but nothing has changed. That’s unacceptable. It’s time to deliver on that commitment, beginning with next year’s school funding.