Another 2 days of elementary strikes next week

Elementary students with Ottawa's largest school board will be off for another two days next week as rotating strikes by their teachers' union continue.

On Wednesday, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced all 83,000 educators it represents in the province will return to the picket line next Tuesday. That includes teachers with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB).

The same teachers will walk off the job again next Thursday as part of a rotating strike.

Elementary teachers with the Upper Canada District School Board and the Belleville-area Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board will also be onstrike next Monday.

Elementary teachers with the Renfrew Country District School Board and the Limestone District School Board, which includes the City of Kingston, will hold their rotating strikes Wednesday.

No agreement in sight

OCDSB elementary teachers also have a scheduled professional development day next Friday, meaning thousands of kids in Ottawa will be in school just two days next week.

The intermittent strikes by Ontario teachers began in early December,and ETFO president Sam Hammond said they're not about to back down.

"It is clear that they are not going to accept the government's deep cuts to public education," Hammond said in a written statement.

"The Minister and his team must come to the table with a mandate to reach a deal that benefits students, student learning and educators.

"From ETFO's perspective, fair contract talks must include: appropriate funding for Special Education; a strategy to address classroom violence; maintaining our internationally recognized Kindergarten program; and fair hiring practices."