Exploratory talks between high school teachers' union and government break off

Will new proposal lead to a deal with teachers? Ontario teachers' unions say they are closer to making a deal with the province, but there are still less teachers under the new plan.

Toronto — Exploratory talks between Ontario's public high school teachers and the government have broken down, but the head of the union said a capitulation from the education minister on class sizes and e-learning moves the parties closer.

The informal talks between the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation and the province began Sunday, providing the first glimmer of progress in over two months. The two sides haven't formally negotiated since Dec. 16.

But the meetings ended late Tuesday, hours after Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced he was almost entirely backing down on two of OSSTF's major issues.

Lecce offered to increase average high school class sizes from 22 last year to 23 next year -- instead of the government's original target of 28 -- and allow an opt-out for e-learning courses the Tories previously said would be mandatory.

"Yesterday, I put forward reasonable proposals with the sole focus of reaching a deal that was fair to students, parents, and our teachers and education workers," Lecce said in a statement Wednesday. "OSSTF's decision to walk away from lower class sizes and giving parents a choice regarding online learning suggests they do not want to reach a deal with our government."

Union president Harvey Bischof said it was problematic that the minister made his announcement in a news conference instead of directly to OSSTF through his bargaining representatives. But while Bischof said talks broke off because the government showed no flexibility from its bottom line, he acknowledged Lecce's announcement did move the needle.

"We're closer to some of the outcomes that we need to reach in terms of maintaining quality of education than we were when the minister was claiming that 25 to 1 was the right number, a number he stood steadfastly by for months," Bischof said, referring to a previous softening of the government's proposal to increase class sizes.

"The gap has been narrowed with regard to a couple of issues ... so they seem like they could be helpful steps. But we don't know, for example, are they still maintaining their position there should still be no class size caps in the province?"

When the government previously backed down to a 25-student class average, the move also included a proposal to remove local class-size limits, essentially allowing the number of students in any single class to climb indefinitely. Lecce wouldn't confirm Tuesday if that was still part of the new offer.

Lecce's announcement has led to progress with another union. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association will return to bargaining Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.