OPSBA accepts Wynne’s proposal; Clegg slams it as “Poisoned Environment”
Written by John Borst on February 11, 2009 – 3:44 amToronto 10, 2009 Catholic Education, Catholic Schools
This evening Ontario’s Public School Boards, in a press release said “OPSBA has agreed to accept the Minister’s final offer.” According to OPSBA, this “renewed and final opportunity to reach a fully funded Provincial Discussion Table (PDT) agreement would set the parameters for successful local collective bargaining between public school boards and their 73,000 elementary teachers.”
ETFO, president, David Clegg meanwhile said he was “outraged that the Minister of Education has chosen to publicly discuss the details of her offer” to the teachers. Clearly in a huff, Clegg went on, “The Minister’s decision to air her offer in a public forum without giving ETFO appropriate time to deliberate has poisoned the environment for negotiations. If her professed desire is to create peace and stability, this approach won’t achieve it.” Catholic Education, Catholic Schools.
Loralea Carruthers, vice president of OPSBA, said “OPSBA appreciates the government’s efforts to bring about a reasonable, fully funded settlement. Our students and parents are depending on all of us to find a compromise solution that ensures stable learning environments in our schools.”
OPSBA believes in light of today’s economic climate, the offer is reasonable, and paves the way for 4-year, fully funded collective agreements that support teaching, improved student learning and safety because it includes these enhancements: Catholic education
- Guaranteed salary increases compounded to 10.4% over the next four years (2, 2, 3, 3%).
- Additional teachers in an era of declining enrolment, providing for:
- Targeted class size reductions in Grades 4 to 8;
- Student Success teachers and Literacy and Numeracy coaches in Grades 7 and 8;
- Additional arts and specialist teachers; and
- 40 minutes per week additional Planning Time per teacher.
Clegg on the other hand could only complain, Elementary teachers have been asking that they be treated “with respect”. The current offer and the way it is presented don’t do it, he claims.
In closing their press release ETFO wonders why “… the Minister does not realize that her proposal creates 1,500 fewer jobs than the ETFO proposal that also involves a 10.4 percent salary increase.”
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