Toronto Parents Speak for Themselves in Defence of Public Education
 
Coinciding with the Elementary Teachers’
Federation of Ontario’s province-wide day-long strike,
parents
and elementary school students held a rally at Queen's Park on Tuesday,
February 11, to publicly speak out against the anti-social cuts to
public education in Ontario and to stand firmly with teachers and
education workers.
The action was organized by Ontario Parents
Against Cuts to Education, a network of
concerned and active parents in Toronto to demand that the Ford
Government stop speaking
in their name in order to undermine the just struggle that Ontario
teachers are waging to
defend their conditions of work and the public education system.
 Parents and
students spoke at the rally and expressed their unequivocal support for
teachers
and the public education system. One woman with two children in
elementary school pointed out
that public opinion is with the teachers and as a parent she knows
first hand the vital and
important role that teachers play in Ontario to educate the young and
prepare them for the
future. She noted that it was unacceptable that the government is
attacking the teachers and
education workers in the name of parents and putting forth spurious
claims about defending
the public school system.
Another parent chastised the media for attempting
to isolate the teachers and misrepresent
their demands which are just and fair. Several grade 5 and grade 6
students took the mic to say
why they had come to the rally, voicing their concern for their own
education and that of
future students in Ontario.
At the rally, Parents Against Cuts to Public
Education
circulated an open letter addressed to Premier Ford and Education
Minister Stephen Lecce noting that they have been speaking to the media
and at public events and through social media about "what parents want"
and saying that parents are getting "impatient" with teachers and
making other claims. The letter takes Ford and Lecce to task for these
remarks pointing out that they have had "no significant dialogue" with
Ontario parents and therefore cannot speak in their name. The letter
also warns them that parents will not be "shut out of this
conversation" where decisions "your government makes do not just impact
student's academic futures -- they affect our children's physical and
mental health." Many in attendance signed the letter.
 
The letter makes specific demands to immediately
stop cuts to special education funding
affecting the most at-need students; to reduce the number of students
in each classroom to
improve support for all students; and to hire more Education Assistants
(EA) to provide more
classroom support and management. The letter also calls for the
government to make
e-learning optional and not mandatory because it means less teacher
support to students and
paves the way for further privatization of public education. The letter
also decries the loss of
course options for secondary school students and the potential cuts to
the one teacher, one
early childhood educator (ECE) model kindergarten currently in place.
The letter also informs Ford and his Education
Minister:
"As parents in the public school system, we have witnessed the
immeasurable impact an educator can have on a child's life. We value
teachers, EAs, ECEs, and support staff, and are incredibly grateful
they're fighting for our kids. A strike is inconvenient, but the
alternative is far worse."
Parents have been organizing across the province
in support of the striking teachers and education workers. The
battle for public opinion on the question of public education in
Ontario is raging. The parents
are not taken in by the claims of the government that the changes it is
trying to implement are
in the interest of public education or their children. They are
speaking from experience and
with conviction, demanding the government listen to them rather than
"speaking for
them."
 
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