Elementary Teachers Welcome Funding Announcement

June 12, 2006

Emily Noble, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), welcomed the government’s announcement today of increased funding for education in Ontario.

“The government is continuing to support its priority goals – smaller class sizes in the primary grades and teachers for music, art, and physical education programs in elementary schools,” Noble said.

“These priorities reflect those of our members. ETFO has been campaigning actively for the return of programs lost through years of cuts to education. Elementary teachers know that students benefit from small classes and from a wide variety of programs.

“Although the announcement today has gone some way to narrowing the gap in funding between elementary and secondary students, we will be urging the government to do more,” said the president. “We know how important early learning is to student success.

“As well, we will be watching to ensure that today’s announcements are properly implemented at the local level, that smaller classes in the primary grades don’t translate into larger classes in the junior and intermediate grades,” the president cautioned.

“We are committed to providing the highest quality education to our students. The announcement today will help us achieve our goal.”

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 70,000 public elementary school teachers and education workers across Ontario and is the largest teacher federation in Canada outside of Quebec.