"Improve funding, resources and policy supports for special education", Niagara educational assistants tell McGuinty Liberals

NIAGARA FALLS, ON, Jan. 30 /CNW Telbec/ - Niagara area EducationalAssistants (EAs) are urging the Ontario Liberals to have the political will toenact substantive changes to education funding and resources allocated tospecial education and make quality supports for special needs students andsafe workplaces for EAs a priority in this spring's provincial budget. At a media conference in Niagara today, EAs and Sid Ryan, the Ontariopresident of the Canadian of Public Employees (CUPE) - the union representingnearly 700 EAs employed at Niagara's public and catholic boards, and17,000 EAs province-wide - outlined the challenges faced by EAs in our schoolsand solutions to better special education programs for both students andworkers. Ryan said the funding model for education makes EA working conditions"intolerable." The current formula does not give school boards adequate fundsto hire EAs for a full workday. Most EAs work six or six-and-a-half hours perday. Often, in efforts to balance budgets, boards cut EA jobs, furtherincreasing the workload of those EAs who remain in our schools. "All these deficiencies in the funding model resulting in a shortenedworkday, less EAs in the schools, and untenable workloads, coupled with thehigh needs of students with severe physical and behavioural challenges, createthe perfect storm in exposing EAs to injury, abuse, stress and burnout," saidRyan. At the same time, a failure by the Liberal government to fund agreementswith teachers for additional preparation time has resulted in the downloadingof supervision responsibilities on EAs, amounting to a hidden cut to specialeducation, said Ryan, that takes them away from their primary duties workingwith special needs students. In some boards, EAs are doing more than400 minutes a week of general supervision - a full day per week. Niagara EAs' Jacklyn Rocco (a member of CUPE 4156 - District School Boardof Niagara) and Randy Gunn (President of CUPE 1317 - Niagara Catholic DistrictSchool Board) spoke passionately about their commitment to working withspecial needs students and how the McGuinty Liberals must do better in fundingthe actual cost of special education, not just a small portion. They outlined how a lack of resources, policy supports and workingconditions in schools creates situations where EAs are exposed to health andsafety hazards on an ongoing basis. Back injuries from lifting immobilestudents are increasingly common, they said. Students with severe behaviouralissues often lash out and kick and bite EAs who need hospital attention, theyexplained. CUPE is now tracking the rates of injury in Niagara schools. Ryan called on the McGuinty Liberals to work with CUPE in developingsolutions to improve special education and the EAs' working conditions. CUPEis recommending that the Liberals introduce the following measures: << - Changes to the funding formula to adequately fund special education and allow school boards to ensure EAs work a minimum of a seven-hour day; - Province-wide policies on violence committed against special education support staff; - Set standards concerning training and safety equipment to improve health and safety; - Change the Education Act to include EAs and their roles and responsibilities in our school system. >>For further information: Sid Ryan, President, CUPE Ontario, (416)209-0066; Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications, (416) 578-8774