Ministry of Education
McGuinty Government Applauds Provincial Stability Commission For Progress To Date
Review Will Explore Best Practices And Future Direction
TORONTO, Feb. 15 - The McGuinty government applauds the Provincial
Stability Commission's work helping school boards and Elementary Teachers'
Federation of Ontario (ETFO) locals resolve hundreds of student supervision
issues over the past year, announced Education Minister Kathleen Wynne.
"I appreciate the progress that has been made due to new collaboration to
address the often difficult issues associated with student supervision," said
Wynne, who met with representatives of the ETFO and the Ontario Public School
Boards' Association (OPSBA). "This is a great example of the kinds of genuine
partnerships that our government is fostering to help rebuild our province's
education system."
The commission was established to resolve issues arising from the
four-year collective agreements between English-language public school boards
and ETFO, beginning with student supervision. There were about 700
English-language elementary public schools with unresolved student supervision
issues by the time the commission began its work in April 2006. This number
was reduced to close to 50 by June 2006. At present, about 80 per cent of
2006-07 student supervision schedules have been agreed to, and
English-language public school boards and ETFO locals are continuing
discussions to resolve most of the remaining issues.
OPSBA and ETFO, who originally called for the establishment of the
commission, had also recommended a review within the first year of its
existence. The review, launched today, will assess the Commission's success in
assisting the parties address supervision and in promoting labour relations
peace and stability.
In addition, the Minister asked the parties today to consider making
specific recommendations in advance of discussions regarding 2007-08
supervision schedules, learning from the effective practices implemented by
English-language public school boards and ETFO this school year. She has also
solicited advice on future directions or topics that could be explored to
continue to improve labour relations in English-language elementary public
schools, and the possible role or roles that the PSC might play.
The review team will include representatives from ETFO, OPSBA and the
Ministry of Education, and will consult with a wide variety of education
stakeholders to develop its recommendations. The review team is expected to
report back to the minister in April 2007.
Four-year agreements with teachers have created peace and stability in
the classroom and a supportive learning environment for students:
- No school days have been lost due to regular classroom teacher
strikes - compared to 26,000,000 student days lost during the tenure
of the previous government.
- More teachers eligible for retirement are staying in the profession.
- There are 6,800 additional staff in schools - including 2,400 more
teachers and 200 more Principals and Vice Principals - while the
number of students has declined by over 50,000. Thanks to these
investments, student achievement has improved with a 10 percentage
point increase in reading, writing and math.
Contact Info
"Together with our education partners, we're making Ontario's education
sector a model of collaborative labour relations," added Wynne. "Positive
working conditions for teachers will continue to enhance student achievement
and public confidence in the system."
Background
The Provincial Stability Commission was established in April 2006 to
resolve system-wide labour relations issues arising from the four-year teacher
collective agreements between school boards and teachers, beginning with
student supervision. The commission is chaired by Jim Thomas and four
commissioners: two nominees each from the Elementary Teachers' Federation of
Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA), and
supported by Ministry of Education staff.
This mandate arose from the April 2005 Framework Agreement between the
ETFO and OPSBA. The framework informed the local negotiations between each
school board and the local bargaining unit of ETFO. School boards are the
employer of record and are responsible for the negotiation of collective
agreements with their employee groups.
The student supervision language in these collective agreements provides,
for the most part, for "every reasonable effort" to reach maximum student
supervision for each teacher over a five-day instruction cycle of 100 minutes
in 2005-06 and 80 minutes in 2006-07, as long as student safety is maintained
and there is no additional cost to boards or the ministry. This language
exists in almost all 31 English language elementary public teacher agreements.
Should boards and local ETFO bargaining units not be able to agree on a
supervision schedule for a school or schools, under the provisions of the
collective agreements, the disputed schedule is referred to the commission.
The commission only becomes involved when issues are referred to it for
decision.
Progress To Date
There were about 700 English-language elementary public schools with
unresolved student supervision issues by the time the commission began its
work in April 2006. This number was reduced to close to 50 by June 2006. At
present, about 80 per cent of 2006-07 supervision schedules have been agreed
to, and public school boards and ETFO locals are continuing discussions to
resolve most of the remaining issues.
For further information: Michelle Despault, Minister's Office, (416)
212-3747; Patricia MacNeil, Communications Branch, (416) 325-2676; Public
Inquiries: (416) 325-2929 or 1-800-387-5514, TTY: 1-800-263-2892
