QUEEN'S PARK — NDP Education critic Marit Stiles released the following statement to mark World Teachers' Day:
"Teachers are the heart of our schools, providing our children with education, guidance and care. Throughout the pandemic, teachers have worked tirelessly, in difficult conditions — often putting their own safety at risk, and that of their families — to ensure our kids continue to get an education.
For too long, both Conservative and Liberal governments have stretched teachers' workloads and capacities with education cuts and underfunding, leading to overcrowded classrooms and crumbling schools. From Bill 115 to Bill 124, the bargaining rights of teachers have repeatedly been attacked.
And now, during a pandemic, Doug Ford is cutting $800 million from our education system, and doubling down in his refusal to reduce class sizes and hire more teachers and education workers to protect staff and students from COVID-19.
The Ontario NDP will continue to push for government investment in education; for smaller, safer classrooms and the hiring of thousands more teachers and education workers, including more French teachers, to address the current shortage — Ford must implement the recommendations from the Working Group on Teacher Shortage in the French-Language School System.
Teachers are tired; they deserve to be valued for their work, with safe working conditions and proper funding. The best way to thank teachers on World Teachers’ Day is to hire more teachers.”