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Your Federation: A Roundup of Federation News
- Ontario’s new Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable David Onley, (left) spoke to local leaders at the February Representative Council meeting about the challenges of living with a disability. The Lieutenant Governor said the focus should be on accessibility, a concept he defined broadly to extend beyond the removal of physical barriers. He will continue the book drives for Aboriginal communities begun by his predecessor, the Honourable James K. Bartleman, because access to books is critical for the educational achievement of Aboriginal students,just as physical aids are critical for others.
- ETFO member Dwayne Besharah, shown above right with his wife Sara Newman, spoke about the challenges of returning to the classroom after suffering an accident which left him a quadriplegic.
- Representative Council also heard from Kathleen Wynne, Ontario minister of education, who emphasized that in her view teacher working conditions and student learning conditions are inextricably linked. “They are one and the same,” Wynne said, adding that one of her government’s goals is to continue to close the gap in funding between the elementary and secondary panels.
- ETFO has created Community Resources posters that provide members with information about a variety of social agencies in their school district. Copies of the poster have been distributed to all schools in the stewards’ mailings. The poster is part of ETFO’s special project that is focusing on ways to increase the academic success of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. For more information contact Jim Giles at provincial office, jgiles@etfo.org.
- Protecting Our Students Young adolescents – students in grades 7 and 8 – belong in elementary schools, not high schools. In early December ETFO launched its campaign to fight the transfer of intermediate students into high schools in the Upper Canada School Board. Moving these students into high schools is “just plain wrong,” President David Clegg told a news conference. “The young students will spend more time on school buses, face the pressure of older, more mature students, and lose the many benefits that can only be provid- ed by elementary schools.” Clegg said that academic research suggests that young adolescents do better in elementary schools. “Students from ages 10 to 15 show gains in mathematics, language, and reading when they attend small schools with lower student–teacher ratios and shared teaching – all factors more common in elementary schools.”
Derek Patrick, an educational consultant and former OISE faculty member, answers questions at a public meeting held to oppose the Upper Canada District School Board’s plans to transfer grade 7 and 8 students into high schools. Some 60 community members attended the Kemptville meeting. Patrick outlined the research that shows high schools are not a desirable setting for young adolescents. ETFO’s Protect our Kids campaign includes billboards, and newspaper and radio ads. For more information visit etfo.ca/ProtectOurKids. - Campaign For Pay Equity for All Ontario Women On January 17, Ontario’s Pay Equity Act was 20 years old. While progress has been made, women still earn, on average, 29 percent less than men. ETFO is a member of the coalition that is working to bring pay equity to all Ontario women throughout their working careers and into retirement.
The coalition held a rally at Queen’s Park on January 17 and presented postcards signed by thousands of women calling upon the government to end gender-based pay discrimination by supporting, strengthening, and revitalizing pay equity enforcement.
For more information go to etfo.ca /AdvocacyandAction/WomensIssues. - 2008 Women’s Health Matters Forum Mould in the workplace and in the home can trigger respiratory conditions and flu-like symptoms. At the Women’s Health Matters forum, ETFO sponsored a workshop with Dr. Om Malik, who spoke about mould and sick-building syndrome, and the health impacts of poor indoor air quality. ETFO volunteers distributed literature about mould in the classroom along with an ETFO-produced pamphlet on depression. The forum was held in Toronto in January.
- Teachers From Around the World visit ETFO provincial office to learn about the programs and services we offer members. This delegation from the Jordanian Directorate of Curricula and Textbooks in the area of humanities heard about early childhood, French language, and arts education, and received copies of ETFO resources.
- Health and Safety Conference The first ETFO provincial Health and safety Conference held in November was attended by 75 keen health and safety activists and local leaders. Keynote speak- er lawyer Howard Goldblatt outlined his commandments for health and safety. (See the General Secretary’s column in Voice, Dec. 2007.) Other topics included mould in the classroom and violence in the workplace. ETFO has revised its Health and Safety handbook the new edition is available from shopETFO.
- ETFO provides members with a variety of professional learning opportunities. These members took part in the Workshop presenter’s palette, a two-day program for those interested in developing and presenting curricu- lum sessions for colleagues. For more information contact Ruth Dawson, rdawson@etfo.org.
