behalf of the Ministry by Directions Evidence 
and Policy Group. The study found that while 
Ontario’s elementary teachers exhibit high levels 
of professionalism, their workload is negatively 
impacted by the way in which government policy 
and reforms are introduced, as well as the time 
spent on administrative rather than instructional 
tasks. Other factors adding to teacher work-
load and stress include class sizes in junior and 
intermediate grades, the number of students 
with special needs, unnecessary paperwork and 
reports, and a constant stream of new educa-
tional initiatives. The study can be viewed on the 
Ministry website at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/
policyfunding/memos/november14.html.

Building Better Schools Public 

Relations Campaign

In April, ETFO's Communications and Political 
Action Service area launched an advertising cam-
paign with the message that “more one-on-one 
time makes all the difference,” focusing on small-
er classes and support for students with special 
needs, two building blocks of ETFO’s Building 
Better Schools Education Agenda. The goal of the 
campaign was to remind the public that teachers 
are doing the best they can but that smaller class 
sizes are essential to ensuring that the learning 
needs of every student are met.

Along with television and radio ads, the prov-
ince-wide campaign featured billboards, transit 
shelters, exterior bus ads, GO stations and a 
complete ‘wrap-around’ of the Queen’s Park TTC 
station. A print ad template and a lawn sign tem-
plate were designed and made available for use 
by locals. The BuildingBetterSchools.ca website 
was re-launched with sharable graphics that 
ETFO members and others could use. 

Facebook, Twitter and other social media posts on 
the campaign were very successful as members 
shared graphics from the website and posted 
their own photos of outdoor advertising. A post-
card directed to the minister of education was 
distributed in both paper and electronic form to 
members. It was used as a talking piece with par-
ents and community members, who were encour-
aged to send the postcard to the minister.

For three weeks in June, two radio ads were 
launched during ETFO’s work-to-rule strike action. 
One message emphasized that “elementary 

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO

15

Protecting Our Profession