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Eight Building Blocks for Better Schools

Ontario has a world-renowned publicly funded public education system. We are committed to improving our schools, to fighting for equity for all, and to creating a safe and supportive environment.

As the heartbeat of public education, teachers and other education professionals play a critical role in helping to shape the system and develop our students to be the very best they can be. Ontario’s future depends on all of us to protect and build better schools.

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Addressing Anti-Black Racism

The concept of ‘critical mass’ is important if the potential of racialized and Black teachers and education workers is to be realized within the education system. They need to see...
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Smaller classes for elementary students

Educators identify small classes as the most important factor in their ability to work individually with students and meet their diverse needs.
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More resources for students with special needs

Many students with special education needs are not formally identified until mid-to-late elementary school years, which means that they might be at a school with little to no...
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Building more inclusive classrooms

Elementary school is a place where kids have many firsts – first best friend, first books read, first class presentation. In the classroom, educators are laying the foundation...
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Enriching student learning

Kids benefit from having counsellors, librarians, and teachers who provide instruction in the Arts, Health, and Physical Education.
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More meaningful student assessment and learning

EQAO tests promote an overly narrow focus on literacy and numeracy to the detriment of a more holistic program.
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A funding formula that works for kids

Ontario’s education funding formula needs to be fully reviewed and reformed. It is based on a model introduced two-and-a-half decades ago that was designed to reduce overall expenditure...
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A strong voice for educators and their union

Ontario public education has benefited from having unions representing teachers and other education workers for more than one hundred years.
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One secular school system

The increasing diversity of Ontario’s population makes it difficult to defend a school system devoted to one religion.