Tories offer to lower cap on high school classes to 25 students

The Progressive Conservative government is watering down its demand for larger class sizes in Ontario high schools, but adding a “poison pill” that the teachers’ union warns it cannot swallow.

As contract talks heat up, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the Tories are willing to lower the proposed classroom average from 28 students to 25.

But that remains higher than the existing average of 22.5 and will still eventually cost 5,000 teaching positions — down from 10,000 with the higher 28student figure.

It will also mean fewer course choices for high school students across the province.

Lecce said Thursday that the government is being “reasonable” by reducing its proposed average and urged the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation to do the same.

“If that spirit is not matched, then unfortunately a voluntary deal probably cannot be reached,” he said.

The government has introduced legislation to limit annual public sector raises at 1 per cent while the teachers are seeking cost-of-living increases equal to about 2 per cent.

OSSTF president Harvey Bischof said “the proposal that we received this morning is, in fact, worse than the Ford government’s original plan to hike average class size ratios to 28:1.”

That’s because the government wants locally enforceable caps on class sizes to be removed in exchange for its concession.

“It is a poison pill to an already poisoned offer,” said Bischof. “There would essentially be no limits on the size of classes into which Ontario students could be squeezed.

“This fall we are already seeing the chaos that this government’s class size policies are creating in Ontario high schools,” he said, pointing to students being unable to get their courses and teachers’ positions being eliminated.

“To the degree that any semblance of order has been maintained, we have the class size caps in our local collective agreements to thank for that. An agreement on our part to remove those caps would be an agreement to undermine the learning environments in our schools.”

Bischof said teachers, who will complete their strike votes by Nov. 15, “cannot and will not accept the government’s proposal on class sizes.”