Teachers to withdraw administrative duties starting Monday

Yorkregion.com
May 8, 2015
By Lisa Queen

Elementary school teachers will begin job action Monday, but students and parents shouldn’t notice any difference, at least initially, the York Region president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario said Friday afternoon.

“Teaching will go on, learning will go on,” David Clegg said, shortly after the provincial union held a media conference in downtown Toronto to provide details of its “strike action.”

Teachers will withdraw from administrative duties, won’t participate in EQAO standardized tests and won’t provide comments on students’ report cards, Clegg said.

But other activities, such as sports, clubs and field trips, will continue as normal, he said.

“Interaction between teachers and students will continue,” Clegg said.

“This points to our commitment to do our best in difficult times.”

However, Clegg wouldn’t rule out an escalation of job action if the provincial government and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association don’t return to the bargaining table to negotiate in a “reasonable fashion.”

“The ball’s in the government’s court,” he said.

York’s 68,000 students will be among the 817,000 public elementary school students in Ontario affected by the teachers’ job action.

There are about 76,000 public elementary teachers in the province, including about 5,000 in York.

The union is upset the province wants to freeze teachers’ wages for three years, on top of the existing two-year freeze, Clegg said.

It is also opposed to a demand from the school boards’ association that would give principals the right to direct what teachers do during their prep time, which insults teachers’ professionalism, he added.

Education Minister Liz Sandals criticized the union for waiting until Friday afternoon to let anxious parents and students know what is in store for them come Monday.

“We shouldn’t put parents through this uncertainty,” she said Thursday.

“We shouldn’t put children through this uncertainty because this is really a dispute amongst the adults.”

York Region school board director J. Philip Parappally calmed parents who feared a full strike or disruption of programs was possible.

“ETFO has indicated that the job action commencing on May 11, 2015 will not include a full withdrawal of services,” he said in the board’s website.

“As the situation develops, we will continue to update you and remain committed to providing as much information as possible.”