Ontario to cap kindergarten classes, give teachers raise in tentative deal

If deal is ratified, elementary teachers will get a 4 per cent raise over two years, and full-day kindergarten classes will be capped at 30.

Thestar.com
Feb. 14, 2017
By Kristin Rushowy

Ontario’s Liberal government has agreed to cap full-day kindergarten classes at 30, according to a copy of a tentative contract extension agreement with elementary teachers obtained by The Canadian Press.

If ratified, elementary teachers will get a 4 per cent raise over two years.

That’s the same compensation offered to English Catholic teachers and French teachers, according to several other media reports.

Currently, each school board must have an average full-day kindergarten class size of 26, but there is no cap.

The terms in the tentative deal, which would still require regulatory amendments, would set a cap at 30 for the 2017-18 school year and 29 for the following year.

The government has secured two-year contract extensions for all central education unions except the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, giving the unions deals until 2019 and giving the Liberals labour peace with the teachers ahead of the provincial election next year.

There are no talks scheduled with the OSSTF, though Education Minister Mitzie Hunter has said she is hopeful some will soon be arranged.

The tentative deal with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association provides a 1.5 per cent salary increase this September, a 1 per cent increase next September, a 1 per cent increase in February 2019 and a 0.5 per cent increase when the contract expires in August 2019.

Teachers will also get a 0.5 per cent lump sum payment this November, “in recognition of potential expenses for professional development, supplies or equity or for other professional expenses,” according to the deal.

The tentative agreement, which will be voted on March 1 and 2, also provides $33.5 million for an additional 335 full-time teachers in the province’s Catholic schools, according to the bargaining update. However, instead of full-day kindergarten, the Catholic teachers’ additional contract states that additional staffing will be used for young students with special education needs, at-risk students and those who are new to the country and learning to speak English.

Union president Ann Hawkins said in a memo obtained by the Star that “our provincial bargaining team has worked hard to address some of the concerns we have heard from Catholic teachers over the past few years. I am very pleased to offer this agreement to members for their consideration.”

When the deal with the elementary teachers was announced, union president Sam Hammond said the goals were “to negotiate terms that improve the working conditions of ETFO members and the learning conditions of Ontario’s elementary students.

“ETFO believes these goals have been achieved,” he said.