Ontario members,
I write today to ask for your help in defending our education system from the devastating changes planned by Doug Ford’s Conservative government.
It is clear that Ford is hell-bent on implementing his corporate agenda with no qualms about injuring the most vulnerable or tearing down cherished institutions, as witnessed by his attack on elementary and highschool students and their teachers.
Ontario Minister of Education Lisa Thompson has announced that the Conservative government intends to:
- Increase class sizes in grades 4-8 and in high school; reducing attention given to students and limiting access to equipment and other resources
- Cut thousands of teacher and support staff jobs
- Remove 1.4 billion dollars from the public education system
- Download the government’s duty to support higher needs students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) onto schools without adequate funding
- Require students to take several online courses; replacing personal attention with e-learning
- Introduce a regressive sexual education curriculum
The Conservative government’s changes to the education system will hurt children, and they know it.
To add insult to injury Ford has warned teacher unions against taking legal protest action to protect their students. Ontario workers will not be silenced and the unions that represent them will not be intimidated!
Show you oppose these cuts and Ford’s bully efforts at the Rally for Education on Saturday April 6.
I especially reach out to those who normally don’t or who may have never attended a rally. Now is the time to stand up as union members, as concerned citizens and as grandparents and parents.
Rally for Education, Saturday April 6, 2019
12:00 p.m. Queen’s Park, Toronto
More information here
See you there.
In solidarity,
Jerry Dias
National President