“This is Not Just A Financial Issue, This is A Human Rights Issue.”

I work at a high school with over 1000 students. In semester one I taught a grade 9 class with 22 students. As grade 9 English is now destreamed, this class was comprised of students with a wide range of learning abilities and needs, including students with special education needs and Individualized Education Plans, and three students with complex needs involving developmental, cognitive, and learning special needs.

All of three of the students required one-on-one support that I was not able to provide in a regular class setting. My high school of 1000+ students only has a part-time educational assistants who works during the afternoon in Special Education classes. This means that there are no educational assistants available for Special Education classes during the mornings and zero educational assistants available to work with other classes, such as mine.

It is heartbreaking to know that although I do my very best to support my students, these three students would have learned and progressed much more if they had had the support of educational assistants. How many more students are there in my school— and in schools across the TDSB— whose learning and progress is being limited by the lack of funding available to staff schools with an adequate number of educational assistants and other school-based supports for students? This is not just a financial issue, this is a human rights issue.

– OSSTF Member
Scarborough North