Support the Just Demands of Education Workers and Teachers!
Education workers’ and teachers’ demands for proper wages and working conditions, for class size caps and overall investments in education will contribute to solving the problems that the pandemic gave rise to. Inflation and the stress of the pandemic are causing a serious crisis in the education system with lack of staff, more significant social problems for students and, by extension, staff. Education workers who work with the most vulnerable students are at a breaking point with the majority of them making less than $39,000 per year and while they are also laid off for 2 months every year during the summer break. Many are now leaving the profession because it is unsustainable.
To address the learning that was missed during the pandemic, small class sizes are decisive as are more immediate one-on-one human supports to help identify where the problem lies and develop individualized solutions in real time. This means using the public purse to take immediate measures to solve this problem that has emerged as a result of the interruptions in learning during the pandemic. Retaining educational support staff and providing them with a standard of living that doesn’t require them to live in poverty will contribute to addressing the immediate problems of staff shortages. Use of force through legislation or smoke and mirrors about online apps or handouts for private tutoring as the government proposes will not only not solve the problem, but they are also, in fact, part of the government’s scam to try and cause chaos in the schools and then blame the very people who are the solution.