On March 11, local presidents of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), representing educators in school boards currently under Ontario Ministry of Education supervision, issued a joint letter to Education Minister Paul Calandra voicing deep concern that the current decision-making process excludes the voices of educators, those who know students and schools best. The letter was also shared with ministry-appointed supervisors, directors of education at supervised boards, and the leadership of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association.
As school boards begin developing their budgets for the 2026-2027 school year, ETFO presidents call for a fundamental shift in approach – expecting transparency, open communication, and genuine collaboration with all stakeholders; expecting decisions to be guided by student needs, not by arbitrary fiscal targets; and expecting the Minister of Education and school board supervisors to uphold their responsibility to the communities they serve by engaging in broad, accessible, and meaningful consultation at the start of the process.