Public elementary education workers have approved a new contract including salary increases, job security and a Supports for Student Fund, but it’s only a piece of the crisis puzzle occurring in Ontario schools.
“We had EA (educational assistant) positions posted last year that were never filled,” said Kawartha Pine Ridge Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) president David Berger. “The money was there to hire them all, just not the bodies.”
Berger appreciates the efforts the KPR district school board has undertaken in recent years to fund and hire extra EAs, but it simply cannot keep up with demand.