Governments must provide more funding for additional teachers and education workers, custodians, buses and drivers, health care workers and must commit to smaller class sizes with dedicated caps (not averages) at board of health approved numbers. How can we put a hard cap on the number of people who can go into a store, but at the same time allow classrooms to be too crowded to allow for safe distancing? Governments must fully fund heating and ventilation system retrofits for all schools and ensure safe bussing for children and their drivers. Some municipalities have even offered to provide extra public space for schools that have no room to expand – so let’s use it!
A safe and equitable return to school must include quality child care. The pandemic has shone a light on the child care crisis in this country, illuminating the direct relationship between access to child care and women’s equality. Governments must provide substantial and sustained funding to help families return to work and to support the child care sector to provide safe environments for our youngest learners.
We welcome the recently announced federal funding of $2 billion to help with the safe reopening of schools and an additional $112 million for Indigenous school communities. This money must be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, any other funding. We call on governments to put it to good use immediately. Instead of blaming unions when government inaction is the culprit, governments, in particular the provinces, must commit substantially more of their own funding for public schools to make a #SafeSeptember happen.
We are also concerned that the underfunding of public education is creating a two-tier education system for those who can afford it. For many, there is no option but to send their kids back to school. This will disproportionally affect women, gig and precarious workers and marginalized communities. Everyone wants what is best for their children, so it is hard to fault families who are looking for alternatives because they want to keep their kids safe and don’t see governments providing a solution. We must not pit families against one another. This two-tiering is a direct result of governments failing to provide equitable public solutions to meet the needs of children, families, and workers.
If health authorities expect children to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate when they feel unwell, we must also consider the impact this will have on their family members. The cascading effects on society could be enormous. What happens to the student’s classmates? Their educators? Their sibling’s classmates and teachers? Family members, their co-workers and workplaces? How many others will have to isolate and get tested as well? Even though a large number of CUPW members have rights under our collective agreements with Canada Post, they are not without problems. Many working people do not have any leave provisions and only limited job protections. Will families be able to isolate or take their kids to get tested if they have no supports, risk losing their job or would not receive enough income under government recovery benefits? What if they do not even not qualify for those benefits?
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers stands with children and their families, with teachers and education workers, custodians, support staff, bus drivers and their unions, with progressive trustees and boards of education, with the health care community and others calling for and working toward a safe return to school.
We know with COVID-19 there are no guarantees, and while many are doing all that they can, a severe lack of funding is constraining their efforts at this critical time. Ultimately, the decision to adequately and equitably fund a safe return to school is in the hands of government. If societies are to be judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members, then governments are the ones we must hold to account for letting down our children, families, and those in the education system. We cannot allow that to happen. It may not be a normal return to school, but we should at least ensure that it is a #SafeSeptember.
What you can do:
- Call your provincial government representative and let them know you want them to fully fund a #SafeSeptember
- Look for local or online actions to support your teachers, custodians, school staff, bus drivers, health care workers and their unions
- Use the social media hashtag #SafeSeptember.
