Some students returning under threat of job action

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To most children it was business as usual on the first day back at school, but the province and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario still haven’t reached an agreement on a new contract. Neither side can say how much longer this is going to take. Cindy Csordas reports on what parents are saying about their kids being back under the threat of job action.

Some of the parents say the talks between the provincial government and the teachers union have gone on long enough. They say they had all summer to iron out an agreement but Premier Kathleen Wynne says at least kids are in school.

Rob Willet has two children in elementary school and is surprised an agreement wasn’t reached between the teachers union and the Ontario government over the summer.

I think my children deserve their education and everything that comes with it and that includes comments on the report cards and the full educational experience.” The work to rule campaign means no field trips, extracurricular activities or comments on report cards.
Vaughn Philip says a nearly blank report card leaves him unequipped to help his grade one daughter move forward. “I would like to see more comments so I can guide my daughters education whether she needs more in math or in spelling. The report cards were just genera.”

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says they are in a media blackout and will not be commenting.

We contacted the elementary teachers federation of ontario to find out where the talks stand right now they said they’re in a media blackout and will not be commenting. However, Premier Kathleen Wynne did comment today. “The process that was put in place in consultation with all of the parties, we knew that there needed to be a new process the first time we went through that process we also said at the end of this we will look at changes, but you know… all the kids are in school and that was my objective.”

Kathleen Wynne says she’s confident an agreement will be reached, she didn’t say when but she says difficult discussions are happening, sometimes in to the middle of the night. She says all sides have the genuine desire for an outcome that makes a school the best environment it can be for everybody.