The provincial government says it wants to put kids first and get them back in class on time.
The education minister unveiled the plan to play catch-up following two years of interrupted learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes a return to in-person learning with the full return of activities like sports, clubs and field trips.
“Without disruption to their lives, be it from the negotiations or otherwise, we need these kids to be in school. We know it’s important for their mental and physical health,” says Education Minister Stephen Lecce Monday.
Contract talks between the province and the teachers and education workers unions began this week.
The current contracts expire at the end of August, just before students are resturn to the classroom.
Lecce says all parties should have one focus during the negotiations.
“(We need) to hammer out a deal that is good for kids, that keeps them in school, that restores the student experience and that puts them first in our decision-making, be it as the unions, as school board trustees or as the government.”
The Plan to Catch Up has five key components:
- Getting kids back in classrooms in September, on time, with a full school experience that includes extra-curricular activities like clubs, band, and field trips
- New tutoring supports to fill gaps in learning
- Preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow
- Providing more money to build schools and improve education
- Helping students with funding for mental health supports
Lecce promises that schools will stay open to in-person learning, even if the province sees another wave of COVID-19 in the fall.
He also vows a deal with teachers will get done and won’t move to legislate teachers back to work if a strike happens.
“We have landed deals with every single union in this province. As difficult as it was, we got to the finish line,” he says. “The message (that I have) to the teacher unions and the education workers is you have a willing partner in this government to sit down, (and) hammer out a deal that is fair for the workers and is good for the children of this province.”
NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles is disappointed by the announcement of the catch-up plan. She says every dollars was a a re-announcement of an old, inadequate one.
“This funding wasn’t good enough when the Conservative government announced it months ago, and it’s not good enough today,” says Stiles. “Teachers and education workers volunteer to coach sports or lead clubs because they love their students. The way to ensure they continue to do that volunteer work is by paying them fairly and investing in lower class sizes and more supports for students.”
Late Monday, Acadia News received a statement from Laura Walton, the President of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU).
“In frontline education workers’ negotiations with the government and school board trustees this summer, workers are fighting for what students need in the classroom to succeed and what we need to do our jobs even better – plus what we need to survive with super-high inflation.
“It’s within Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce’s power to avoid more disruption for students this fall by getting a deal done with education workers this August that addresses structural underfunding, understaffing, and unsustainably low wages.
“Our bargaining demands, if met, would fix these systemic problems to meet students’ needs and create good jobs for education workers – twin goals that will benefit all communities throughout the province.”
