High school teachers, elementary teachers and support staff are taking part in a rally to raise awareness about education cuts. The protest is set for Tuesday at 4:00pm, in front of MPP Steve Clark’s office in Brockville (100 Strowger Boulevard).
Tanya Crosbie, Communication & Political Action Chair for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 26, says it’s a united rally. She says members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and Canadian Union of Public Employees 5678 are also participating.
Crosbie says the main message is protecting student education.
She explained 1 in 4 high school teachers might lose their jobs as a result of the proposed cuts. Crosbie says increasing class sizes, threatening to remove teachers from kindergarten classrooms, cuts to autism supports and slashing education funding are all on the docket.
She says the government has cut most schools down to one person designated for special education and some had three or four. Crosbie says teachers are getting less support at a time when the documentation is showing a higher special needs population.
Members of the public are welcome to take part in the rally.