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Three of Ontario’s major teachers’ unions are taking steps toward potential strikes as they negotiate with the government for new contracts.

Discussions between the province and education unions started a few months ago amid the Ontario government’s move to increase class sizes. A recent wage cap bill has also angered teachers.

While teachers receive a salary for their role, there are many expenses and actions they do that are unaccounted for or are considered voluntary, according to education professionals.

What teachers are paid for

Teachers are paid to perform their duties under the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, based on how they’re stipulated in a contract, according to Harvey Bischof, the president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF).

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“It’s sort of a combination of their duties under the Education Act and then how that’s exactly spelled out under the collective bargaining agreement,” he said.

“That’s teaching their classes, that’s evaluating students, it’s doing some level … of supervision, like [in] hallways and cafeterias, and what we call on-calls, which is covering for a teacher who might be absent.”

It’s also expected that teachers communicate with parents — for example, in situations where students might be at risk, Bischoff said, adding that staff meetings are also covered.

Vidya Shah, an assistant education professor at York University, told Global News that teachers are also required to provide support for students with special needs.

“It involves ensuring that their accommodations and modifications are being met,” she said. “It involves providing opportunities in which … students with different learning styles can be enriched.”

What teachers aren’t paid for

According to Shah, many teachers pay expenses out of their own pockets to fill gaps that exist in the classroom budget.

“There’s a lot of children that might come to school not having had breakfast or not having money or food for lunch, and so a lot of teachers will spend money on breakfast items or snacks in the classroom,” Shah said.

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“Some teachers will spend money on classroom supplies.”

Other expenses teachers will pay for out of pocket, she added, include art supplies, posters or murals for the classroom, extra photocopying if there’s a limit, classroom libraries, professional learning resources, technology and sometimes furniture.

READ MORE: Ontario government walks back plan to expand high school class sizes

“Depending on sort of the level of poverty in the area, teachers might be paying for hats or coats or gloves or socks for the students or bringing in their own,” Shah said.

“It’s sort of unaccounted expenses in education that get taken up by teachers.”

The OSSTF sent Global News an exhaustive list of duties that are considered “volunteer time” for teachers.

Some of what’s included in the list is as follows:

Extra help and exam prep

Coordinating announcements

Student council and parliament

Coaching sports

School clubs (anything from chess to debate club)

Graduation preparation

Award ceremonies

Athletic banquets

Science fair

Career day

Reference letters for graduating students

University and college visits with students

Assemblies

School dances

Open houses

Prom

Foreign exchange

Day field trips

International field trips

Fundraising

Bake sales

READ MORE: Ontario high school teachers union says contract talks with government have stalled

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“[It’s] all of the extracurricular activities — that is, of course, a vast array of sports,” Bischoff said. “It’s things like drama productions, the school musical. It is all kinds of clubs.”

Co-curricular activities occur before, during and after school, with some happening on weekends, Shah said.

“Teachers are giving up their time to be able to do that,” she added.

According to Shah, there’s also an emotional toll that the job takes on teachers.

“So many teachers take home the woes and the worries and the struggles that their students face every day in school,” she said. “That is something that is unaccounted for as well.

2:25 Elementary teachers in Ontario vote in favour of strike Elementary teachers in Ontario vote in favour of strike

Potential strikes

Prior to the current Progressive Conservative government, teachers have paid out of pocket for many parts of the job, in terms of money, time and emotional wellness, Shah said.

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“All the extra responsibilities of teaching that we don’t actually name, and teachers do it because they deeply care about their students,” she said.

“While [teachers have] been filling that gap, the government is now engaging in even greater cuts to schools, and so it’s making it near-impossible to create those kinds of positive, effective learning environments.”

Elementary teachers will be in a legal strike position on Nov. 25, and high school teachers will be in a legal strike position next week, although they haven’t yet submitted the required five-day strike notice.

Catholic teachers have voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike but aren’t yet in a legal strike position, while talks between the government and French teachers continue.

— With files from The Canadian Press

1:42 Education unions to hold strike votes Education unions to hold strike votes