Ontario elementary teachers vote to strike

Public elementary school teachers and educators in Ontario voted 98 per cent in favor of a strike if necessary, a result their representing union called an “overwhelming” order.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) represent more than 83,000 educators and education professionals in elementary schools across Ontario.

Canada’s education minister, Stephen Lecce, recently said he had proposed talks with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation to expand the size of high school classrooms to 25, but add 10,000 teaching positions over four years.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) called the idea a “poison pill” because the proposal would also mean removing local class size limits, essentially allowing the province to see the number of students per class rise indefinitely.