2,000 teaching casualties so far in Ford's war on education and kids

An ETFO button against the Ontario cuts

Despite Doug Ford promising repeatedly during the election campaign last year -- and despite the surreal continuing claim that this promise is being kept by Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson -- that no one, teachers or otherwise, would lose their jobs due to government cuts it would seem that this pledge was far from the truth.

On May 1 the CBC spoke to Andrew Campbell, a Grade 5 teacher at Major Ballachey Public School in Brantford. Campbell has been tracking layoffs since the budget was announced and found that "almost 2,000 teachers job cuts have been announced and there are more to come. You can read his full report on the cuts at this link."

2,000 teaching jobs.

With the push to increase high school class sizes from an average of 22 to an average of  28 students and with the slashing of per pupil education spending some schools are clearly going to have to axe electives and other programs.  Regardless of Thompson's absurd musings that somehow increased class sizes are good for students and encourage "resilience" we all know this is a farce.

If bigger class sizes were better, why is it that one of the primary advertising points that private schools make to their wealthy customers sending their kids is that the class sizes will be smaller?

OurKids.net, which calls itself "the most trusted source when it comes to private schools in Canada", notes that part of the appeal of private schools is:

Small class sizes — While the average class size varies according to which private school you select, your child will most likely have smaller classes than he or she would at another type of school. As such, your son or daughter will receive more attention from his or her teachers. Moreover, your child will also have plenty of opportunities to ask questions and participate in class. Learning is interactive, not merely rote.

They state further that:

A trademark of private education, small class sizes have been drawing parents and struggling students to private schools for generations. The benefits of smaller classes have been proven in study after study, and most teachers will tell you intuitively that working with fewer children more personally improves the atmosphere and overall learning quality in the classroom.

So let's cut the crap.

Everyone knows that teacher layoffs and bigger class sizes hurt kids and their education outcomes and futures. Thompson knows this and Ford knows this. The reason they don't care is that the kids of their wealthy backers and friends are not going to be hurt, it is working and middle class kids as well as kids from racialized and marginalized communities who will be.

Update: Please note that we have updated the article to reflect the fact that the increase in class sizes is an average, which means that in some cases class sizes will actually be much higher, even into the 40 student per class range.

See also: "We won't allow our future to become a budget cut" - Photos from the student walkout strike in Toronto

Student walkouts and mass protests coming this week in Ontario against Ford's education cuts

Image from a protest poster designed by Nathaniel Laxer

Student walkout strikes followed by a large weekend rally at Queen's Park are coming to Ontario this week in the wake of the announcement of what amount to massive funding cuts to public education by the Doug Ford government.

The Ford government is using increased class sizes and forcing students to take online courses as what Dave McKee in the People's Voice describes as a "Trojan Horse". McKee notes that:

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) calculates that these changes will result in over $700 million in funding cuts to public education, and a loss of over 24% of current classes from the public school system. While the government has repeated that no currently employed teacher will lose their job, these funding cuts are expected to result in 10,000 fewer teaching positions across the province over four years.

In protest of this upwards of 100,000 high school students across the province will be walking out of classes at hundreds of schools on Thursday afternoon (April 4). The graphic above is from a poster designed for the walkout at one west end Toronto school.

This will be followed by a massive rally outside the legislature in Toronto on Saturday, April 6 at 12 noon. Thousands are expected to attend.

Organized and endorsed by "AEFO, CUPE-Ontario, ETFO, OSBCU, OECTA, OSSTF and a growing list of parent and community groups, other labour unions and organizations" the event's Facebook page notes:

As parents, educators and concerned community members we are standing together to defend high-quality publicly funded education and the optimal learning conditions that all students need and deserve!
The Conservative government is proposing cuts that will be damaging to all students and will particularly hurt students with special needs. Our message is simple: Our education system needs investment not cuts.
The government has proposed to:
• Increase class size in grades 4-8 and in high school;
• Download its obligation to support children with autism onto public schools without adequate funding; and
• Reduce the number of teachers and support staff in schools across the province.  

The Left Chapter plans follow-up reports from events on both days. 

Further Readings / Links

FORD’S CLASS CHANGES TROJAN HORSE FOR SCHOOL CUTS

RALLY for Education

USSR -- Education, 1970 w. photos Part II

Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project

See the end of this post for details on the project.

Leaflet: USSR -- Education, 1970

We have looked at leaflets regarding education in the Soviet Union before in the posts USSR Today -- Education, 1975 w. photos Part I and USSR Today -- Education, 1975 w. photos Part II. As we noted then, "One of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the modern world was the feat that the Soviet Union accomplished in building an extensive and free educational system that dragged its republics and peoples out of a state of neo-feudalism, mass ignorance and illiteracy." 

This booklet touches on these accomplishments again with an emphasis on the astonishing defeat of illiteracy in the Soviet republics -- where illiteracy rates of as high as 99% were overcome to achieve near 100% literacy between 1917 and 1970 -- as well as on the huge strides forward in the numbers of schools of all kinds.

As the first part of our look at this booklet noted -- as just one example -- prior to the revolution there were but 150 kindergartens in all of Russia which were exclusively for the wealthy. By 1969 there were over 75,000 of these and they were all free.

In this part we see other striking examples through a variety of graphics. This part also reminds that in the Soviet Union not only was education at all levels free but so were the textbooks, facilities, etc. "The state bears all expenses of a student in getting an education". Students received significant subsidies of other kinds that are detailed. The booklet also briefly touches on the USSR's internationalist efforts with regard to educational infrastructure and students in developing countries. 

This is the second of two parts. The first part can be found here.

(Click on scans to enlarge)

When The Left Chapter began part of what I wanted to do on the blog was to show and highlight vintage public leftist election/political leaflets and booklets. While many of these have been offered with commentary to date, a very large collection of hundreds of them from several different sources remains and to preserve these often quite rare documents we will be posting them on a regular (almost daily) basis now often without or with minimal commentary so that people may have access to them as quickly as possible as an historical resource. 

While these will all be leaflets from a variety of different leftist viewpoints and countries, they are being posted as an historical/study resource and the views or opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or blogger.

All of these posts (as well as posts made to date) will be listed on the page: Vintage Communist/Socialist Leaflets (which is still being updated with past posts).

If you have any public, vintage leaflets or booklets you would like to contribute to this project please contact us via theleftchapter@outlook.com

USSR -- Education, 1970 w. photos Part I

Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project

See the end of this post for details on the project.

Leaflet: USSR -- Education, 1970

We have looked at leaflets regarding education in the Soviet Union before in the posts USSR Today -- Education, 1975 w. photos Part I and USSR Today -- Education, 1975 w. photos Part II. As we noted then, "One of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the modern world was the feat that the Soviet Union accomplished in building an extensive and free educational system that dragged its republics and peoples out of a state of neo-feudalism, mass ignorance and illiteracy." 

This booklet touches on these accomplishments again with an emphasis on the astonishing defeat of illiteracy in the Soviet republics -- where illiteracy rates of as high as 99% were overcome to achieve near 100% literacy between 1917 and 1970 -- as well as on the huge strides forward in the numbers of schools of all kinds.

As just one example, prior to the revolution there were but 150 kindergartens in all of Russia which were exclusively for the wealthy. By 1969 there were over 75,000 of these and they were all free.

This is the first of two parts. 

(Click on scans to enlarge)

When The Left Chapter began part of what I wanted to do on the blog was to show and highlight vintage public leftist election/political leaflets and booklets. While many of these have been offered with commentary to date, a very large collection of hundreds of them from several different sources remains and to preserve these often quite rare documents we will be posting them on a regular (almost daily) basis now often without or with minimal commentary so that people may have access to them as quickly as possible as an historical resource. 

While these will all be leaflets from a variety of different leftist viewpoints and countries, they are being posted as an historical/study resource and the views or opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or blogger.

All of these posts (as well as posts made to date) will be listed on the page: Vintage Communist/Socialist Leaflets (which is still being updated with past posts).


If you have any public, vintage leaflets or booklets you would like to contribute to this project please contact us via theleftchapter@outlook.com