As students return to regular in-person learning, the gaps in their experience are becoming obvious. Limited access during the pandemic to the critical supports, services, and staff they rely on have taken their toll and left many students struggling. 

Now’s not the time to be looking for new ways to cut corners. Limiting further disruptions to our students’ education must be about more than just keeping them in the classroom. Those classrooms can’t be overcrowded. Critical support staff like custodians, educational assistants, and education workers providing one-on-one supports can’t be over-worked and under-paid, holding two jobs just to make ends meet and spread too thin to give our students the help they need. Schools can’t be falling apart, crippled by a $17 billion repair backlog. And students can’t afford another round of bargaining where the government plays chicken with their future. They need these supports now before they fall further behind.

Let them know what’s needed to really give our students the stability they deserve.