Ford Government

Federico Carvajal reflects on the Ford government’s flawed plan for school reopening in September.

As elementary educators in Ontario you have embarked on an unprecedented year, returning to your classrooms after a historic shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the beginning of the school year quickly approaching as I write this in the first days of September, ETFO is ever more mindful of how important it is to get school reopening right and to ensure health and safety of both educators and students.

With the fall issue of Voice, we are focussed on the safe reopening of schools and the ways in which we build community, particularly in these challenging times when the inequities that are always present, are laid bare.

ETFO educators are in an unprecedented round of bargaining with a government intent on making drastic cuts to public education.

At the end of February, the government was forced to table the results of the education consultation they conducted in the fall. These show overwhelmingly what the Ford Conservatives have been trying to hide: Parents in Ontario do not support cuts to public education.

Over the course of the winter, ETFO staff have been focussed on organizing strike action, which began in late November and has extended over six phases that have included work-to-rule, rotating strikes, full-day withdrawal of services and a coordinated all affiliate one-day strike.