The union representing Ontario high school teachers says it appears that some TDSB high school teachers will be without work this year, despite oft-repeated assurances by Premier Doug Ford that no teacher would involuntarily lose their job under his watch.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) says 155 of its members in Toronto public high schools have no job at the moment or only part-time work.
The union is hosting two meetings Thursday to assist staff with accessing the supply teacher list for work or other career options.
Board spokesperson Ryan Bird says 108 full-time teachers are without work, while another 47 have been downgraded to part-time work.
OSSTF Toronto local president Leslie Wolfe says the numbers will fluctuate for the next several weeks.
“There will be some teachers recalled over the course of the next several weeks,” Wolfe said, adding the boards each hold back a small portion of their staffing budgets into September to account for changes in enrolment.
Bird says the hold back of their staffing budget may allow them to recall approximately 80 teachers.
Earlier this year, previous Education Minister Lisa Thompson announced that average class sizes in grades 4 to 8 would increase from 23 students to 24, while grade 9 to 12 classes would grow from 22 to 28 students on average.
The Ministry says the change would result in 3,475 teaching positions lost but insisted the changes would be achieved entirely through attrition.
Premier Ford went a step further on CP24 last spring, saying repeatedly that “nobody is getting let go,” and that teachers would “thank him” come September for the way he has handled the education file.
The NDP, Liberals and major teachers unions each dispute the idea that all positions will be lost through attrition.
Wolfe said that the numbers are going to fluctuate for perhaps a few weeks, but she doesn’t see how at least some teachers will be without work.
“I do not have confidence that every single teacher who had a job last year would have a job this year and that is because of the cuts to education funding by this government,” she said.
The TDSB said last week that it cut 296 positions ahead of this school year, ranging from principals, teachers, support staff, but also custodians and coaches.
Across the rest of the GTHA, public boards shed approximately 700 jobs, though both Peel and York district school boards said the teacher reductions were made entirely through attrition and moving teachers to long-term occasional (LTO) contracts.
Officials at the Ministry of Education said Thursday that they have committed $1.6 billion over the next four years to help boards complete cuts without layoffs.
Regarding the specifics of the TDSB situation, they said that staffing decisions are a responsibility for local school boards.
