The Elementary Teachers of Toronto seek small classrooms, additional student supports and compensation that keeps up with cost of living, President Helen Victoros says.
Teachers have been reporting kindergarten classes with 30 students and junior and intermediate grades with even higher numbers of students, she said.
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“Classrooms continue to be much, much larger than they should be. Schools lack resources for our most vulnerable children, and health and safety concerns continue to affect attendance, continue to affect in-class learning,” Victoros said. “Class size continues to be an incredibly significant issue because out members, teacher and education sector workers, want to be able to provide the one-on-one support, the individualized attention that we know all of our students deserve.”
At its Federation Day 2022 Friday, ETT accused the Doug Ford government of underfunding schools, an issue it intends to address in ongoing negotiations.
Grace Lee, a spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce, said no government in Ontario history has invested more in education with an additional $650 million this year.
“Since we came to office in 2018, we have hired over 7,000 additional education workers and teachers, supported by a 420% increase in mental health and the largest tutoring program in Canada.” Lee said. “However, none of this matters unless education unions agree that students deserve to be in class without disruption right to June.”
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The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario has revealed that the Ford government has a multi-billion-dollar surplus, Victoros said.
“We are united in calling on this government to make sure that our students have all of the supports — all of the teaching staff, all of the support staff — that we know they need to be able to thrive in a public education system,” she said. “We know right now that our students do not have enough specialist teachers, they do not have special education support teachers, they do not have enough guidance counsellors, they do not have enough social workers, educational assistants, SNAs (special needs assistants) and ECEs (early childhood educators).”
As for compensation, a key issue in the government’s negotiations with CUPE Ontario Education workers, Victoros said that will be handled by the central bargaining team.
“All working people seek to maintain, especially in a cost-of-living crisis that we’re in right now, their purchasing power and seek not to have losses,” she said.
aartuso@postmedia.com
