Education Minister Stephen Lecce says teachers should not be on the picket line.
In the Ontario Legislature, Lecce stressed the unions should instead be at the table and bargaining in good faith.
“Enough is enough with the delay. Enough is enough. This has been a 300 day process. We have laid a positive plan, a good plan for parents. We are freezing classroom sizes in elementary and high school.”
Lecce says their recent offer seeks to remedy the failures of the past.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association held a province-wide one day walk out today, but it also says it’s going back to the bargaining table.
Premier Doug Ford says they have already indicated a willingness to go to an average of 23 students per class and get rid of mandatory E-learning, so it’s really about wages and benefits.
At Queen’s Park, NDP leader Andrea Horwath called Lecce delusional.
Horwath says the revised offer put forward by the Education Minister this week is an admission of failure for not listening to parents.
“This government spent the last year making life worse for parents, for teachers, for students. They don’t get to take a victory lap now that they’ve been shamed into backing down on the cuts that they never should have put on the table in the first place.”
NDP House Leader Sarah Singh adds the government offer will still result in 1,000 fewer teaching positions.
Former Premier Kathleen Wynne says despite the revised offer, the government still isn’t addressing previous cuts made to education.
“There are already hundreds of fewer adults in schools across the province this year than last year and the move to an average class size of 23 students will further reduce the number of teachers in our schools, which in turn will mean thousands of course options for students.”
(Picture: Sarah Singh)
