ETFO and Opposition Parties Blast Ford's Decision to Keep Schools Closed

Wednesday, 2 June 2021 13:53

Opposition leaders and the ETFO say Ford is ignoring the advice he sought and keeping schools closed anyways.

The Elementary Teachers Federal of Ontario is blasting Doug Ford for keeping schools closed.

ETFO President Sam Hammond says Ford is announcing continued closures despite consensus from healthcare stakeholders that students return to in-person learning.

"For over a year, the Ford government has consistently failed to manage the pandemic by ignoring input from stakeholders, including recommendations from their own science table. This advice included repeated calls for smaller class sizes, improved ventilation, and adequate personal protective equipment for educators. They also, negligently, refused to acknowledge schools as primary drivers of COVID-19 transmission. Under false pretenses, Minister Lecce spent nine months insisting schools were safe, without any evidence to confirm this. This government’s utter disregard for the safety of students, educators and other education workers cannot be ignored."

Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca says Premier Doug Ford is putting patios before publicly funded schools.

"That's because he doesn't believe in publicly funded education, and because he can't empathize with the millions of parents with children in the system now, including my family. The experts have been clear - the government should be allowing each Public Health Unit and the local Chief Medical Officers of Health to make the decision whether or not to reopen schools for their own regions. He's only interested in saving his political skin, and one year from now Ontario Liberals will end the chaos and restore compassionate, competent leadership."

NDP leader Andrea Horvath shared her frustration on twitter.

Ontario is the only province with schools still closed because Doug Ford didn't want to spend the money on smaller classes, better ventilation, and testing.
Parents and kids are struggling.
This govt needs to make the investments so schools can be reopened safely. #onpoli #onted
— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) June 2, 2021