“There's A Staffing Crisis in Our Schools, And The Worst Thing is That It Was Entirely Foreseeable.”

I work in a tiny, alternative school for students who struggle with the mainstream education system. This year, one of our few teachers unexpectedly had to go on leave. During the first semester, we were able to fill their job - though I had to take their non-teaching workload - but we struggled to find someone to fill the position second semester. For a month, students had a different supply teacher every two days. These are some of the most vulnerable kids in our system, and we exist to help reengage them and get them to graduation. Every day, they asked when they would have a teacher. My admin were doing their best to fill the position, but they told me that the trouble is system-wide, and that in many schools, students have been waiting for months to have a teacher in some of their classes. In every school, there are teachers like myself and my remaining colleague working extra and filling in the gaps for other teachers who are absent, ill, or on leave, but this is unsustainable and takes a toll on our mental and physical health.

We eventually filled that position, but then, another teacher came down with COVID. Since they could barely sit up, we emailed every supply teacher we could think of, but there was still one day where we couldn't find anyone to cover the classes, and with only a few other teachers on staff, there weren't even enough colleagues to do on-calls. The sick teacher ended up joining the class virtually through virtually even though they could barely talk!

There's a staffing crisis in our schools, and the worst thing is that it was entirely foreseeable when the Ford government slashed funding.

– Toronto Teacher