Kitchener school council writes open letter to province in solidarity with educators

In the middle of rotating teacher strikes across Ontario, a Kitchener elementary school's parent council recently wrote an open letter to the province expressing solidarity with educators.

The letter was written by Rachel McQuail on behalf of the King Edward Public School (KEPS) school council last week.

It was addressed to Premier Doug Ford, Education Minister Stephen Lecce, local MPPs and other Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) members.

McQuail is a parent with children at the school and is chair of the school's parent council.

She said it was important to send an open letter to the province in support of educators as parents in her community have expressed concerns with cuts and lack of supports available for students in the classroom.

"Already we've seen the effects of the cuts at King Edward in terms of a lack of educational assistants and behavioural support staff," she said. "That affects our children's ability to learn in the classroom and our education staff's ability to do their job."

For McQuail, who has children in Grades 2 and 4, increased class sizes and not enough support staff in the classroom are a big concern for her as well, and she said she feels parents' voices are not being heard.

"It feels like we don't have enough say," she said.

McQuail says so far, she's only received an email back acknowledging receipt of her letter. She hasn't not received a response from the government.

CBC K-W has requested a comment from Education Minister Stephen Lecce. A spokesperson said they have "received the letter and we are reviewing it."

Parents supporting parents

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is one of three teacher unions who have been staging one-day, rotating strikes as contract negotiations continue with the provincial government.

ETFO began holding one-day rotating strikes as of last week, which closed all elementary schools in WRDSB on Monday. 

ETFO and the province returned to bargaining talks this week after a six-week hiatus.

Strikes by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) have also closed public elementary schools because the union represents support staff, secretaries, custodians, I.T. people, language pathologists that work in elementary schools.

McQuail said rotating strikes can be hard on parents and as a result, a private Facebook group for KEPS families was created to further support one another, like offering child care and sharing resources.

"No one wants to miss a day of work and not get paid, so for our education staff to be taking a stand, they are fighting  for our children and we appreciate that and so it's important to for us to work together and support each other through this," McQuail said.

Read the letter below: