Ontario students are back inside classrooms with new requirements around exams, financial literacy and classroom supplies, but a local teachers’ union says the province’s back-to-school messaging is distracting from financial and labour concerns facing public education. Education Minister Paul Calandra outlined several changes for the 2026-27 school year in a letter to Ontario families, including mandatory written exams for students in Grades 9 to 12, a new financial literacy graduation requirement and changes to classroom supply funding. John Bernans, president of District 11 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said the changes are relatively minor compared with the financial pressures facing school boards. “Really, it’s a distraction,” Bernans said. “I think the minister is trying to distract from the chronic underfunding of education that’s happened since 2018.” Bernans pointed to what he described as a $22-million deficit at the Thames Valley District School Board, which has been under provincial supervision for about a year and a half. “The supervisor was supposed to fix everything in terms of the finances, and even with the supervisor, he still can’t make the numbers work,” he said. The Thames Valley board did not make a representative available for an interview. The board’s secondary teachers are also working without a new collective agreement after their previous contract expired at the end of August. Bernans said teachers asked the province to begin bargaining in March, but talks did not begin until June. “We’re now waiting for a ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board about what we can bargain locally and what can be bargained centrally,” Bernans said. While labour negotiations continue, the London District Catholic School Board says staff are adapting to the changes being introduced by the province. Mark Santandrea, the London Catholic District School Board’s (LCDSB) executive superintendent of education, said implementing changes across a large school system can come with challenges, but staff have generally welcomed them. “So there’s been a few growing pains, I think there always are, but staff are welcoming it,” Santandrea said. “The consistency really helps in communicating with parents and communicating with students.” Santandrea said the Catholic board’s biggest pressures are not related to the new curriculum, but to rapid enrolment growth and the need for additional space. “The pressures for us ... are really growth and the number of students and how fast they’re coming to us, and space becomes a big issue for us as we look to accommodate the request for all the students that are coming in,” he said. Among the province’s other changes this school year, students in Grades 10 will have a financial literacy requirement as part of the Grade 10 Career Studies course to earn their high school diploma. The province is also introducing a new Kindergarten curriculum focused on foundational skills in literacy, math, science and technology. History curriculum changes include expanded learning about Black history in Canada in Grades 7, 8 and 10, as well as new learning about the Holocaust in Grade 10. Elementary teachers will also have direct access to $750 for classroom supplies, while paper report cards will return for students from Kindergarten to Grade 8. As students settle into the new school year, both local teachers’ unions are working under expired collective agreements, with negotiations continuing at the bargaining table. Requests for an interview with Education Minister, Paul Calandra were not answered.
