TORONTO, ON – Shirley Bell, a teacher and president of the Kawartha Pine Ridge Teacher Local, has been elected vice-president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO). 

“The Conservative government is eroding our public education system and using the pandemic as a screen to hide their agenda of privatization. We have the power of membership, the capacity of diverse educators, and as a leading defender of public education, it is important for us to continue to demand better, be extra vigilant and purposeful in our work. Let’s focus our efforts to create a public swell of opposition against the current Conservative government and work to develop a meaningful plan going into our next round of bargaining,” says Bell. 

Bell began her teaching career in 2005 with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board after graduating with a bachelor of arts from Trent University and a bachelor of education from Queen’s University. She began her union work as a school steward, joined the local’s Social Justice Committee and became vice-president (female) in 2013. Locally, she has served on the collective bargaining and status of women committees, and was elected president of the Kawartha Pine Ridge Teacher Local in 2015. 

Provincially, Bell has served on the Collective Bargaining Advisory Council Task Force and Professional Collaboration Task Force and has been a member of the Budget Committee for the past four years. In 2020, she was a recipient of Inspire: The Women’s Portrait Project, a photographic celebration of women in Canadian communities who empower, inspire, uplift and support those around them.

ETFO represents 83,000 elementary public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals across the province. Its Building Better Schools education agenda can be viewed at BuildingBetterSchools.ca.

Media Contact: Carla Pereira, ETFO Media Relations, 416-576-9074 or cpereira@etfo.org.