NORTH BAY — The union representing secondary teachers in the Near North District School Board will be holding a rally in front of the Near North District School Board office at 4:30 p.m. today (June 25).
A news release says some of the more than 30 secondary teachers who are still without a job will highlight that MPPs Vic Fedeli and Norm Miller Premier, Doug Ford, and Near North District School Board Chair Jay Aspin, "have not kept their promise that there would be no job losses in the Near North District School Board."
Members from the Parry Sound area will be attending the Board meeting when it starts at 6 p.m.
“We were clear right from the beginning of the announced education cuts that there would be job losses and impacts to students and our communities in the Near North”, stated Glen Hodgson. President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation in the Near North. “Fedeli and Aspin both accused us of fear mongering and promised that nobody would lose their job. We will be in front of the board office with absolute proof that they lied, and my members and our students are suffering as a result”
In addition to the direct job cuts, many teachers are being forced out of their communities and some are facing two-hour commutes to get to a new job that they were forced to accept as a result of staff displacement, says the release.
“The school board tried to suggest that this was because of declining enrollment but even their own numbers show only a reduction of 156 secondary students in the Near North. This does not require the cutting of 30 plus staff and when the retirements are factored in, we would not have lost any teachers if it wasn’t for the Doug Ford and Vic Fedeli cuts.” reiterated Hodgson. “It seems the government and the board aren’t fighting for our teachers and our communities but OSSTF will continue to oppose these cuts and we encourage parents, students and community members to join us in demanding they be reversed.”
Hodgson says the rally comes on the heels of a recent report released by the Conference Board of Canada that calculated the Ford government cuts to education will cost Ontario taxpayers $1.30 for every $1 saved.
Details of the report can be found at http://bit.ly/32FHGRV.
