加拿大安大略省五城同日举行公立教育集会：五大教育工会代表25.5万名员工，称公立学校经费缺口达65亿加元
加拿大安大略省的教师、教育工作者、家长与社区成员10月24日下午在全省五座城市同步举行「为公立教育」（Together for Publicly Funded Education）集会。集会于东部时间下午1时至2时30分举行，地点分别为 Toronto 的 Queen's Park、Ottawa 的 Parliament Hill、London 的 Victoria Park、Sudbury 的 Bell Park 与 Thunder Bay 的 Waverley Park。活动由安大略省五家主要教育工会联合主办，五家工会合计代表25.5万名员工。
集会的中心议题是公立学校经费。安大略省财政问责办公室（Financial Accountability Office）最新报告指出，该省按实际值计算的生均经费已接近十年低点，并还将继续下降；工会方面称，全省公立教育存在65亿加元的经费缺口。其他议题包括教师与教育工作者的招聘与留任危机、班级规模与课堂复杂程度、校园暴力与安全、特殊教育与心理健康支持、省政府对各地教育局管控加强，以及正在进行的新一轮集体谈判可能带来的影响。安大略省市政选举数日后举行，工会称，Bill 101 削弱了教育委员的职责，也是今年参选教育委员人数减少的原因之一。
安大略省中学教师联合会（OSSTF/FEESO）主席 Martha Hradowy 说：「65亿加元的经费缺口意味着更少的人员、更少的支持、更少的学生机会。今天，全省数以千计的人向 Ford 政府发出明确信息：安大略省的学生值得更好的，公立教育值得投入。」安大略省英语天主教教师协会（OECTA）主席 René Jansen in de Wal 说，教师多年来一直在就长期经费不足发出警告，「我们不能继续用更少的资源做更多的事」。安大略省小学教师联合会（ETFO）主席 David Mastin 称，经费不足正导致班级规模扩大、支持减少、学生需求得不到满足。安大略省教育局工会理事会（OSBCU）主席 Joe Tigani 称该省公教系统已到「临界点」，存在严重人手不足与校园暴力上升问题。安大略省法语教师协会（AEFO）主席 Gabrielle Lemieux 表示，教师的工作条件就是学生的学习条件。
Five Ontario Cities Hold Same-Day Rallies for Publicly Funded Education: Five Unions Representing 255,000 Workers Cite a C$6.5 Billion Funding Gap
Teachers, education workers, parents and community members across Ontario, Canada, held coordinated "Together for Publicly Funded Education" rallies in five cities on the afternoon of October 24. The rallies ran from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Queen's Park in Toronto, Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Victoria Park in London, Bell Park in Sudbury and Waverley Park in Thunder Bay. They were hosted by leaders of Ontario's major education unions; the five unions behind the rallies together represent 255,000 workers.
Funding for publicly funded schools was the central issue. Ontario's Financial Accountability Office reported in its latest release that real per-student funding, already near a 10-year low, is set to fall even further, and the unions put the province's public-education funding gap at C$6.5 billion. Other issues raised included the teacher and education-worker recruitment and retention crisis, class sizes and classroom complexity, violence and safety in schools, special-education and mental-health supports, growing provincial control over school boards, and the current round of collective bargaining. With municipal elections days away, the unions said fewer people are running for school trustee in large part because Bill 101 has undermined the role.
"A $6.5-billion funding gap means fewer staff, fewer supports, and fewer opportunities for students. Today, thousands of people across the province are sending a clear message to the Ford government: Ontario's students deserve better, and publicly funded education is worth investing in," said Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO). René Jansen in de Wal, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), said teachers have sounded the alarm for years about chronic underfunding and "cannot continue to do more with less." David Mastin, president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said underfunding is leading to larger class sizes, fewer supports and growing unmet student needs. Joe Tigani, president of CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), called the province's public education system "at a breaking point," citing severe understaffing and rising violence. Gabrielle Lemieux, president of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), said the working conditions of teachers and education workers are the learning conditions of students.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于加拿大 Toronto 的安大略省议会大楼，地处 Queen's Park，多伦多站集会在此举行（资料照片）。照片：Reading Tom 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: The Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in Toronto, Canada, where the Toronto rally was held. Photo by Reading Tom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
