Class sizes, especially kindergarten, special needs funding issues for elementary teachers

Craig Bakay | Feb 12, 2020

Teachers from Land O’Lakes and Clarendon Central Public Schools were on the “morning shift” of picketing at Granite Ridge Education Centre Tuesday morning in Sharbot Lake.

“We opted for a more visible location,” said picket captain Danielle Harding. “The GREC elementary teachers will take the afternoon shift and we’ll switch shifts tomorrow (Wednesday).”

Secondary teachers are scheduled to picket Thursday.

Much like their secondary counterparts, class size is a huge issue for the elementary and intermediate teachers.

“They (the Ministry of Education) want to remove all language involving class size,” Harding said. “That would have a big impact on special needs students, who don’t get the attention they need now.”

They also don’t want to see changes to kindergarten programs and are deeply concerned about the Local Priority Funding program not being renewed.

In the 2017 contract extension, $56 million was added to hire teachers and early childhood educators so that class sizes could be reduced to a cap of 30 students in the first year in most full-day kindergarten the first year of the contract and 29 in the second.

Also, that contract extension included funding resulting in a four-per-cent salary increase for teachers over two years.

And while there is a 1 per cent salary increase on the table this time around, that’s not why the teachers are out picketing, Harding said.

“It is a contract negotiation, so it’s in there, but it’s not what we’re fighting for,” she said. “We’ve already lost that increase from picketing days.

“We would be the worst mathematicians ever if we were to strike over 1 per cent.

“We want them to say they won’t change the kindergarten formula.”

In all, they say cuts to education funding totalling $235 million will affect all students but particularly at-risk and special needs students.

Harding said they’ve been bolstered by the support they’ve received, particularly from parents.

“A lot of parents have dropped off treats . . . we like the treats,” she said. “Some have even dropped off non-perishable goods and we’ll see they get to the food bank.”

There did seem to be a lot of public support Tuesday morning with a high percentage of passing cars honking.

One driver, Dave Hansen in his red Ford F150, noticed a painting of Premier Doug Ford eating an apple on one of the picket signs, rolled down his window and called out: “Fords don’t last forever, you know.”