It’s a unified front across the province.
High school teachers handed out flyers outside schools on Tuesday, marking the first day of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) work-to-rule campaign.
“It’s important the information picket doesn’t impact the students’ learning,” said Jeff Bird, a teacher at Crestwood Secondary School in Peterborough, where teachers were also handing out flyers.
The teachers are forming the pickets before class, in the afternoons and after school in order to keep classes running.
Tuesday also marks the first day of work-to-rule for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (EFTO), only they won’t be holding information pickets.
High school teachers will no longer be prepping for EQAO testing, participating in unpaid meetings after school, or leaving comments on report cards. Elementary school teachers won’t be participating in any of the ministry’s online training or webinars and will be leaving just one comment on Kindergarten report cards.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce condemned the work-to-rule campaigns in a statement Tuesday.
“It is regrettable the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) have chosen to escalate work-to-rule action, only hurting our children,” read the statement. “This escalation to a partial withdrawal of services, including targeting math supports and report cards, hurts our children the most.”
Outside Crestwood, students could be heard chanting in solidarity at 8 a.m.
“Teachers deserve their jobs!” shouted two students repeatedly.
“We weren’t expecting that in the plan, but it was great,” said Kevin McFadden, chief negotiator and district officer at OSSTF District 14. “We know that OSSTF and teachers across the province of Ontario are on the right side of education. We know that we’re providing world-class education, and it was really spectacular to see the kids also recognizing that.”
McFadden says it is also important to recognize what led to this — months of negotiations between OSSTF and the Ford government to no avail.
In the spring, the provincial government announced an increase in high school class sizes — from an average of 22 to 28 — and mandatory online courses.
On Oct. 21, however, the government walked back that decision in an attempt to “be reasonable,” dropping the mandatory online courses from four required credits to two and lowering the number of students per class from the previously announced 28 students to 25 students.
Still, the teachers were not appeased.
OSSTF District 14’s information pickets will continue for the rest of the week at schools and public areas around Peterborough. The next information picket will happen Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. outside the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry building, also known as the MNR, on Water Street.