ETFO outlines elementary teachers' work-to-rule campaign

Ontario elementary teachers will begin a work-to-rule campaign on Monday in which they won't write report card comments or undertake any activities related to provincial standardized testing.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which represents some 76,000 teachers and has just been through eight months of unsuccessful negotiations with the province, announced its job actionplans at a news conference Fridayafternoon.

• Ontario elementary teachers to launch strike action Monday: ETFO

• Education Minister considerschanges to teacher strike legislation

"Our members do not take this strike action lightly," said the federationpresident Sam Hammond.

We shouldn't put parents through this uncertainty, we shouldn't put children through this uncertainty.Liz Sandals, Ontario education minister

Under the work-to-rule campaign, teachers will:

• Not undertake any activities related to EQAO including field testing, marking, administrative duties or test preparation.
• Not prepare report card comments
• Not attend staff, divisional or grade team meetings.

The movewill affect some 800,000 elementary students across Ontario.

"This strike is incremental. It will increase until certain concessions are off the table." Hammond said.

Sandals urges resolution

Education Minister Liz Sandals urged the teachers to return to negotiations.

"We shouldn't put parents through this uncertainty, we shouldn't put children through this uncertainty," Sandals said Friday afternoon.

"We are at the negotiating table as a government. The school boards are at the negotiation table, waiting. So we all need the ETFO to come back to the negotiating table."

While parents know schools will be open, parents are still concerned about the last-minute changes to their children's learning.

"There's not a lot of information for me at the moment," said Matt Gordon, a parent with children in elementary school.

"Really, in the last couple of days, it's the first I've heard about a possible strike."

Sandals hassaid she'll consider amending the legislation surrounding teacher strikes so unions, like ETFO, must divulge more information about their strikes.