As tens of thousands of teachers begin working to rule Tuesday morning, a new poll has found that a majority of Ontarians oppose larger class sizes.

The issue has become a key sticking point in current negotiations between the province and teacher unions.

The results, released Monday at Queen’s Park by the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and pollster Nik Nanos, found that 66 per cent — or two-thirds — of those surveyed either outright oppose or somewhat oppose “having larger class sizes where there are more students per teacher in order to save money.”

Among women, nearly three quarters — or 72 per cent — don’t like the idea, compared to 59 per cent of men, the online poll found.

Some 30 per cent support or somewhat support the move to boost class sizes, the Nanos Research survey of 1,005 Ontarians found.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation — which represent about 140,000 educators and support staff — launch their job action amid frustration at a lack of progress at the bargaining table.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce told reporters there are still outstanding issues between the province and all four teacher unions, but “we’ve made a series of moves to demonstrate” the government’s “focus on getting deals.”

“We are hoping these types of moves will incentivize the parties to stay at the table and get deals with us,” Lecce also said.

Last spring, the Ford government announced it was increasing class sizes by an average of one student from Grades 4 to 8, and in high school from an average of 22 to 28 over the next four years.

The move to 28 was to save the government about $850 million when fully implemented, and shed thousands of teaching positions. The province has created a $1.6 billion attrition fund so that no teachers are laid off. However, a handful of boards have reported layoffs this fall.

Then, Lecce last month announced the government’s plan to go from last year’s 22 average up to 25 instead. And last week, he backtracked on a plan to mandate four online courses in high school, dropping the number to two.

OPSBA President Cathy Abraham said adjusting to this year’s average increase, to 22.5 students in high school classes, led to a number of challenges, including fewer class sections and course options for teens. The association has been particularly worried about students not being able to get the credits they need for graduation.

“We appreciate there has been some movement” on class size, Abraham said. Going to 25, she added “still isn’t ideal, and we will continue to talk about it. It is a challenge.”

As for the teachers’ work to rule, she said “there should be very little impact in schools,” which remain open.

“It will not directly affect the quality of education,” she said. “It will, however, cause added workload and stress for our principals, vice-principals and school board staff.”

The Nanos poll also found that 43 per cent of those surveyed opposed and 24 per cent somewhat oppose “having less course selection for students in order to save money in the education budget.” Some 26 per cent support or somewhat support the move.

Three in five of those surveyed believe education is a good investment of public dollars — moreso than tackling the deficit.

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In the legislature, Lecce noted that the poll did find “overwhelming support for expanding opportunities in the skilled trades. It’s why, under this government, more students, over 50,000 women and men, will be in skilled trade programs in this province under our leadership.”

Standardized testing also remains popular, with more than 70 per cent supporting it, the poll found.