Hastings-Prince Edward District School has asked all high schoolers to not go to school Thursday, March 5th.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has announced they will be holding a one-day strike on that day, affecting nine school boards, including Hastings-Prince Edward.
“Almost every day, in the media and in the legislature, we see the Premier and the Minister of Education practically jumping through hoops to avoid answering questions about the government’s agenda of larger class sizes, mandatory e-learning, and fewer supports for our most vulnerable students,” OSSTF President Harvey Bischof said in a statement. He says that Premier Doug Ford and Minister Stephen Lecce know their policies are “indefensible” which is why they don’t talk about the issue that the OSSTF’s bargaining team brings up at the negotiation table.
“They also know, as evidenced again this week by data from their own consultations, that their agenda has virtually no support among education stakeholders or the general public,” Bischof adds.
“Until the Minister is ready to acknowledge that these are the issues at the heart of this dispute, and until he’s ready to address them in a meaningful way at the bargaining table, OSSTF/FEESO members will continue to stand in defense of Ontario’s first-class public education system and the students who rely on it,” Bischof said.
The upcoming strike will not affect students in Junior Kindergarten to grade eight.