TORONTO, March 26, 2024 (Globe Newswire) — The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) has issued the following statement from President René Jansen of Des Valles following the release of the 2024 provincial budget. Announced.
“In the Ford Conservative government's budget proposal, the word 'teacher' is never mentioned in the text of the 'plan' to build a better Ontario, and is relegated to a footnote.
This puzzling and revealing situation comes as Ontario faces a growing teacher recruitment and retention crisis, increased violence in schools, and severe underfunding of the critical resources and supports students need to succeed. This omission shows once again that Premier Doug Ford doesn't care about students or schools. Welfare or publicly funded education. Ontario's teachers are what make our schools world-class, and this budget does nothing to support their important work.
Catholic teachers love to teach. Above all, we want to do work we love, in a learning and working environment that supports our students' growth. But to do our best, we need a government that puts education and students first. A government that makes the real investments needed to foster healthier schools for both students and teachers.government called actually We want our students to thrive and are committed to supporting not only their academic success but also their mental health and well-being.
Instead, Ontario has a Ford Conservative government that would rather use the budget to cover up its failures with cheap accounting tricks to hide increasing inflation-driven education cuts.
Here's Ontario Construction's real plan, focused on student success and investing in their futures.
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Through meaningful collaboration with teachers, we provide real solutions to address the growing teacher recruitment and retention crisis. It's not just a band-aid.
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Addressing the epidemic of violence in schools.
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Reduce average class size so that students receive more of the dedicated one-on-one attention from their teachers that they need.and
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Significantly strengthen mental health services in schools and expand school-based resources, supports, and services.
Ontario students, families and teachers deserve better. They deserve a government with a real plan, with a budget that makes real investments to ensure their publicly funded education system remains world class.
A government that ignores teachers and continues to erode the world-class publicly funded education system it inherited six years ago is a government that is serious about students, their futures, and what they need to succeed. Not. ”
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OECTA represents 45,000 dedicated and qualified teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 in publicly funded Anglo-Catholic schools in Ontario.
CONTACT: Michelle Despault Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association 416-925-2493 x 509 m.despault@catholicteachers.ca
