The Greater Essex Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is voicing concerns after learning more than half of the English as a Second Language (ESL) positions will be cut next year.
President Mario Spagnuolo said he learned there will be only 13 ESL teachers, down from 34.5, during discussions for staffing next year's classrooms.
"Children in the end suffer because they are not getting the education that they deserve. These kids are not a budget line; these are kids who deserve a proper education, and they need the support from our ESL teachers," said Spagnuolo.
A representative from the Greater Essex County District School Board said the decision was made after careful consideration.
"Language acquisition is most effective when it is embedded within a fully-immersed English language learning environment. Through this approach, English Language Learners will continue to benefit from rich vocabulary development and language exposure across the curriculum, rather than through isolated ESL instruction alone," said Madeline McEachern, Communications Officer with the board. "The GECDSB will continue to provide targeted interventions and supports."
Spagnuolo noted many of the English Language Learners are new Canadians who have many struggles on top of the language barrier.
"There's trauma, there's psychological, the social relations, there's just so many different needs that they require more assistance, and so this is going in the opposite direction of what our teachers are telling us," he explained.
Spagnuolo added that these cuts will impact students in the entire system.
"The students in the class that are 'mainstream students', their attention with their teacher is going to be taken away because now the teacher will be juggling the demands of students with special needs, ESL students, students on IEPS, students that are in an enriched program, they're all in one classroom now," he said.
The Greater Essex District School Board's budget for the 2026-2027 school year will be discussed at a special board meeting on June 16.
Spagnuolo said the union was told the cuts come from the province cutting direct funding for English as a Second Language.
