WINDSOR, ON – A recent survey of Ontario education workers including Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, Child and Youth workers, custodians, maintenance and trades workers, and school secretaries represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) shows that a severe crisis in underfunding has led to extreme understaffing, students’ needs going unmet, and increased violence in the Greater Essex County District School Board, Windsor Essex County Catholic District School Board, and the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence.
The CUPE-OSBCU survey included over 12,000 respondents from across Ontario, with over 1800 from Windsor-area school boards. The survey points to a crisis of understaffing in all classifications, causing insufficient supports for students and staff in schools and the Windsor community. School offices are overburdened by increasing demands, school cleaning suffers, and repairs are delayed or go undone.
Read the full CUPE-OSBCU Services Survey report for the Windsor-area.
CUPE locals 4299, 1348, 1358 and 27 represent close to 1500 members, including Educational Assistants, Child and Youth Workers, Registered Early Childhood Educators, secretarial staff, IT, custodial, maintenance and trades workers, student supervisors and other educational workers.
This school year alone, Greater Essex County District School Board has faced a minimum of a $40 million cut to real per-pupil funding, Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board faced a real per-pupil cut of over $24 million and the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence has faced a real per-pupil cut of nearly $10 million.
Many education workers at the school board say they frequently face violent incidents at their workplace, with over 45 percent of Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers experiencing a violent incident every day.
This severe underfunding leaves students and workers at risk because there are too few staff in schools. It also means students have their learning environments disrupted on a regular basis, creating an environment that is far from conducive to having the highest quality of education.
CUPE education workers across the province are calling on the Ford government to immediately increase school board funding, adequately staff school boards so that education workers can do their jobs with dignity and respect and address the crisis of violence across Ontario school boards.
The OSBCU represents more than 57,000 education workers in Ontario.
Quotes:
Joe Tigani, President of OSBCU: It is abundantly clear that the education system in Ontario is at a breaking point. For years, the Conservative government has continued to cut billions of dollars in funding to the education sector, causing extreme understaffing, increased violence against staff and students, and our students’ needs being neglected. There is no question that the Ford government has abandoned the education sector. The Ontario government must increase its investment in students and education workers and address this situation immediately. Students deserve better, parents deserve better, and our education workers deserve better.
Anne-Marie Dimario, President of CUPE 1348: GECDSB has always prioritized the needs of our most vulnerable students, which contributes to their budget deficit, while Ford is prioritizing alcohol sales. Due to this deficit, the Trustees and GECDSB voted in favour of slashing our specialized programming and terminating the positions that directly support these students. While CUPE Local 1348 is not facing massive cuts in positions, cutting any position adds to our members’ workloads and stress levels which could put student safety at risk. The Ford government needs to invest and fund our public education, as our students and future students deserve a great education which is funded to meet all their needs.
Ken Adair, President of CUPE 1358: The strain on both students and staff due to understaffing and the increased workload on our team is leading to burnout and low morale. CUPE 1358 members show up to work every day and provide support to students in spite of these conditions, but we worry how long we can carry on.
Anthony Cutrone, President of CUPE 4299: I want to take a moment to share my deep concern for our members as they navigate the significant challenges we’re currently facing, especially in light of the recent staffing reductions within our local schools. These changes have added to our members’ already heavy workloads, and I know many are feeling the pressure to maintain the high quality of education and support our students deserve. The cuts in custodial and secretarial positions, along with the reduction of educational assistants, mean we are asking our dedicated workers to do more with less at a time when support is paramount. It’s particularly troubling to see the increasing student-to-educational assistant ratios, which make it even harder for us to provide the personalized assistance that some students desperately need. Additionally, the ongoing reductions in community services have left many children without access to essential support during crucial times in their lives. This difficult situation creates a perfect storm, making it increasingly challenging for our members to foster a safe and nurturing environment for all students. I sincerely urge the school board and government to consider collaborative solutions that can address these critical issues. Our frontline workers are the backbone of our educational system, and we need increased funding to enhance the conditions not just for our members, but for the students we are so passionate about serving. Together, we can work towards a brighter future where every student receives the support they need to thrive.
Numbers at a Glance:
- The Greater Essex County District School Board has faced a minimum of a $40 million cut to real per-pupil funding in 2024-25. The Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board has faced a minimum of a $24 million cut to real per-pupil funding in 2024-25. The Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence has faced a minimum of a $9 million cut to real per-pupil funding in 2024-25.
- 50 percent of members say they do unpaid work for the school board, effectively subsidizing schools to make up for the lack of funding. Extrapolating the amount of unpaid work reported to the entire membership of these locals, an equivalent of 41.9 Full-Time Equivalent jobs worth of unpaid work are done by CUPE members.
- 83 percent of respondents say they feel stress due to an excessive workload.
- 72 percent of all respondents say they experience violent or disruptive incidents in their work area. 90 percent Educational Assistants or Child and Youth Workers experience violent or disruptive incidents in their workplace, 45 percent say it happens every day.
- 72 percent of respondents say there are not enough people employed in their own job classification at the school board or in their school. 83 percent of respondents said that services for students, staff, or the school community would be improved with more staff in their classification.
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For more information, contact:
Shannon Carranco
CUPE Communications
[email protected]
514-703-8358
lg/cope491
