Classes resume for Ontario students next week — and so do the one-day strikes by public high school teachers.

But the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation said the fourth, Wednesday walkout scheduled Jan. 8 can be avoided if the province and school boards’ associations agree to return to last year’s average class size and staffing levels.

“This is a proposal to remove the barrier of class size and staffing levels in order to allow the parties to return to the table to bargain the many other outstanding issues of substance,” said OSSTF President Harvey Bischof.

The OSSTF’s proposal would bring the class average back to 22 — it is currently closer to 22.5 with the government planning to boost it to 25 — and restore educator and support staff positions to 2018-19 numbers for the length of any contract that is reached.

While the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association supports the smaller classes — it has said the move to 22.5 was difficult for students and schools — it is unclear if the government will budge.

The province originally planned to boost average class size to 28, leading to thousands of lost teaching positions and tens of thousands fewer course options for teens, but then dropped that demand to 25.

Next week’s walkout is set to hit eight public and Catholic boards, including Peel, as well as a number of schools in six French and French Catholic boards because the OSSTF also represents support workers and professional staff such as psychologists.

It follows the three Wednesday walkouts the union staged in December as talks with the provincial government continued to stall.

“Parents have been clear: strikes by unions hurt kids and … investments should go to support student success, not towards enhanced compensation,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement, referring to the union’s proposal for annual wage increases tied to cost of living — these are about two per cent — when the government is offering one per cent.

“We agree with Ontario parents. This is why we will continue to vigorously champion the interests of students and seek stability for parents in 2020, who are frustrated and tired of the union-led escalation that began in 2019. This continued strike action is unfair to students and their families.”

Bischof, however, said the job action next week “will affect some school boards for one day, but the Ford government’s policies, if we are not able to reverse them, will continue to create chaos in the education system for years to come. Ontario students deserve better, and that is exactly what we’re fighting for.”

Unions are required to provide five days’ notice of any upcoming job action.

NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles said her party has told Premier Doug Ford “over and over that the only way forward was to cancel their cuts to class sizes. This is what education workers are fighting for, and it’s what students and parents want.”

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association was in a position to strike legally as of Dec. 21, but says no job action is planned at this time. The union will be back at the negotiating table with the province and school board association Jan. 9.

Teachers at the province’s French language schools recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike.

The OSSTF and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario will continue their work-to-rule campaigns, which, to date, have been largely administrative, although they will be heating up this month and next as Grade 9 standardized math tests and report cards loom.

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The OSSTF has said its members will not take part in the upcoming math test, which can count for up to 10 per cent of a student’s final grade. Both unions have said their members will provide marks only for winter report cards, but it will be up to administrators to input them.

The Ontario Principals’ Council is urging the province to cancel the Grade 9 math test, which is to be administered between Jan. 13 and 24. However, the province has not made any decision.

No talks are scheduled with the OSSTF, although dates are expected this month.

The boards affected next Wednesday will be those of: Algoma, Huron-Superior Catholic, Greater Essex County, Avon Maitland, Peel, District School Board of Niagara, Limestone and Renfrew County.

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