A professor from a London university, who specializes in inclusive education, finds potential changes to Ontario’s special education inclusion model “quite concerning.”
“What frustrates me the most is seeing people question whether inclusion works; we’ve been doing research for decades that shows it works,” said Jacqueline Specht, director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education at Western University.
“Some kids are going to learn slower; they are not going to learn the same amount, but it is OK we all come together to learn about each other.”
In Ontario’s inclusion model, students with special needs – supported by education assistants – are taught alongside their peers without special needs.
Recently, during a spending estimates committee meeting where opposition MPPs pressed him about funding issues in special education, Education Minister Paul Calandra hinted at possible changes to this model.
“There has to be something different in special education,” Calandra stated.
After the meeting, Calandra told reporters he was looking into whether the inclusion model truly benefits students since he often hears frustration about it from teachers.
However, Specht believes the ministry should take a closer look at its resources.
“Not just the money we are putting at it, but what are we doing with that money,” she mentioned. “Are we using it to really develop our teachers professionally? Those are the people in our classrooms every day who need to have a good sense of… how do we really include all of our students.”
When children with individual education plans are separated from their peers, the message “we give is those kids really don’t belong here.”
“That is when we end up with a society where people are segregated,” she pointed out. “It’s bad and it’s wrong. There is no research that shows kids do better when they are segregated.”
Veteran educator and analyst Debbie Kasman expressed her pleasure upon hearing that Calandra “is taking a close look at Ontario’s special education model.”
“Inclusion is a lofty goal, but it’s also an extremely expensive undertaking, and the current model has never been properly funded,” she explained. “Many parents would love to have their child placed in a small class with additional special education support, but this isn’t always an option.
“I am fully supportive of a new special education model that includes more small-class placements for students with special needs and a new funding formula to support any new model.”
London trustee Marianne Larsen, who also studies education policy, highlighted a May 2026 report from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario regarding the state of special education in the province.
“The report documents how special education in Ontario is under significant strain with chronic staffing shortages, unfilled educational assistant positions, lengthy assessment delays, rising pressures in the classroom, and inadequate professional preparation for teachers,” she noted.
Larsen mentioned that forty-six out of seventy-two school boards overspent their budgets for special education by nearly $400 million.
“The research is clear about this. The inclusion model does work when it is adequately resourced,” she asserted.
Gabe Pizzuti, chair of the London District Catholic school board agreed with her views.
“Inclusion works and parents of students with special needs offer valuable insight into its positive impact on their children,” he stated.
Pizzuti emphasized that the ministry must “carefully consider” how increased segregation could affect students negatively.
“Decisions about how support is structured can have a significant impact on students’ success,” he remarked.
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