Tuesday morning will see the return of both elementary and high school kids to class. There are uncertain conditions at both levels as the elementary teachers have yet to reach an agreement with the province, and high school teachers have yet to approve an agreement which was reached by their union, the OSSTF, in August. Altogether some 817,000 children are scheduled to begin classes in Ontario. The most fractious-sounding voice in this uncertain hour is that of the head of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Sam Hammond. Talks between the ETFO and the province are set to continue Tuesday as the kids enter school but Hammond’s rhetoric has parents tense. The union could walk out at any time after giving five days notice. Neither side wants to give in. The province is trying to achieve “net zero” increases as it struggles with an enormous provincial debt now pushing $300 billion.
