Educators work in a highly regulated and litigious environment. Moreover, political, economic, social, and environmental change in the province inevitably affects families, children, and, of course, schools.
ETFO is unique among Canadian teacher federations in having a service area devoted to Equity and Women’s Services, demonstrating our commitment to women’s equality and social justice.
From its inception, ETFO embraced the use of the Web to improve service delivery to members. ETFO and its predecessors were pioneers among service organizations in using the Internet to communicate with members.
Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, believes that the programs and services unions provide in addition to collective bargaining are the heart and soul of the union movement.
In 1998, delegates to the first ETFO annual meeting unanimously passed the following motion: That the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario work to restore free and full collective bargaining rights to teachers and education workers.
Many ETFO members have fond memories of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation (OPSTF), the two organizations that came together in 1998 to create ETFO.
This year ETFO celebrates its 10th anniversary. an opportunity for all of us to reflect on how far we have come since this federation was founded.
Re: Poverty and Learning
(June 2008)
More than 40 years of research has shown that children from disadvantaged backgrounds do less well in school than their peers from wealthier families.