One of the biggest challenges ETFO provincial and local offices face is convincing members with disabilities to come forward and request the accommodations they need. Sadly, the prevailing culture in schools and in our broader society does not always foster this kind of disclosure.
It’s not often that I’m able to deliver good news in this column. But this is one such occasion. I’m happy to be able to tell you that we have made progress on the issue of EQAO-related initiatives.
When the Ministry of Education announced that the formal fall report card would be replaced with an interim, informal report, ETFO applauded. We did caution the ministry that implementation might be a concern. This was based on our members’ experience with the last report card roll out.
In the last round of collective bargaining ETFO negotiated a professional activity day that teachers would use to complete report cards.
Does a parent who is blind have the right to bring a guide dog into school on “meet the teacher” night, even if the teacher is allergic to dogs? If an elevator will be closed for maintenance, must the board inform potential users?
As this is being written, only a handful of settlements have been negotiated. All of them are excellent, despite the very major challenge that this year’s unusual bargaining scenario being presented.
By the time this magazine reaches you, most teacher and occasional teacher locals will have negotiated collective agreements with their boards. The deadline for reaching agreements was April 24.
It is gratifying to be able to provide you with the second special edition of Voice dedicated to professional learning. You will recall that last year’s special issue celebrated the work that you do both in the classroom and collaboratively with your colleagues.
Since ETFO’s inception in 1998, strong collective bargaining has worked to equalize compensation and working conditions for teacher and occasional teacher members across the province.
It’s spreading: the number of school boards looking at moving grade 7 and 8 students into high schools is increasing.