Ontario’s education minister has issued a memo to school boards saying any policies prohibiting uniformed police from entering school grounds for classroom events, such as career day, “must reverse this decision.” The uniform is “a representation of their duty, and their commitment,” Minister Stephen Lecce said in his memo on May 11. “School boards who have…

Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce is scheduled to introduce legislation Monday that will “refocus the education system on improving outcomes for students,” a release said. The tabling of the legislation follows an announcement he made Sunday that the government will invest $180 million in boosting math and literacy in schools. That includes bringing in…

The Ontario government has reached a tentative deal with school staff represented by the Ontario Council of Educational Workers. OCEW issued a statement saying the deal was reached after multiple days of negotiations between the bargaining council, the Council of Trustees’ Association and the province. It says the tentative deal will go to members for…

Ontario’s labour relations board is set to hear another day of testimony on the government’s application to stop job action from thousands of education workers who walked off the job on Nov. 4. The board began hearing arguments on Nov. 3 after Education Minister Stephen Lecce filed an application following the proclamation of the Keeping…

Ontario’s labour relations board is set to hear another day of testimony on the government’s application to stop job action from thousands of education workers who walked off the job on Nov. 4. The board began hearing arguments on Nov. 3 after Education Minister Stephen Lecce filed an application following the proclamation of the Keeping…

Hundreds of education workers have taken to the streets in Ontario in the morning of Nov. 4, despite a bill passed by the provincial legislature a day earlier making it an illegal strike. Education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are gathered at politicians’ offices, including at the Ontario Education Minister Stephen…

The Ontario legislature has passed back-to-work legislation to impose a four-year contract on education workers and make a planned workers’ strike starting Nov. 4 illegal. Bill 28, or the Keeping Students in Class Act, is applying a notwithstanding clause—which allows the provincial legislature to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms—to address the disputes involving…

The Ontario government has introduced legislation to keep kids in class, impose a contract on education workers, and avert any possible strike action this Friday. Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a press conference on Oct. 31 that the move is in response to the refusal by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to…

An Ontario regulator for schoolteachers has agreed to review its professional standards over protests by parents and students in regard to a high school teacher who wore large prosthetic breasts with protruding nipples in class. The teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School (OTHS), located west of Toronto, came to public attention after students shared videos and photos…

The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) will review its professional standards, according to provincial Education Minister Stephen Lecce, in response to a controversial Oakville teacher who was videotaped and photographed wearing large prosthetic breasts during class. “In this province, in our schools, we celebrate our differences and we also believe that there must be the…