Ontarians fed up with teachers' strikes: Poll

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Regardless of which side they support, Ontarians are fed up with teachers’ strikes.

A poll taken this week by Campaign Research finds 52% of the province wants to make public education an “essential service,” which would stop future strikes.

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That compares to 28% who oppose the idea and 20% who are undecided.

“I think people want the teachers to do better for themselves, they just don’t want them to strike,” said pollster Nick Kouvalis.

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When it comes to class size, the poll shows an interesting split.

While 34% back an average class size of 22.5 students in high school, which is the current level, and 22% back the government’s position of 25 students, the biggest group of people is in the middle.

“A plurality of the people, 37% are more than 22 and less than 25,” Kouvalis said.

Kouvalis said on this and other issues he polled on, there is a desire to see something in between what the teachers want and what the government wants. He pointed to results on e-learning saying that most media stories would indicate there is no support for any e-learning.

“That’s not true,” Kouvalis said.

His poll found that while 42% oppose all e-learning, 52% support some form of e-learning whether it is just for students headed to university or only for students whose parents agree.

“So if the government did parent opt in or only university track students then there is a compromise that the public sees as doable,” Kouvalis said.

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When it comes to raises, the majority don’t want the teachers getting a bump over and above what the Ford government is offering. The government is offering 1% per year over 3 years and 51% back somewhere between no raise and 1%.

The teachers are asking for 2% per year, something less than 20% of the population agrees with.

When it comes to legislating teachers back to work, the government has strong support with 17% saying they should be legislated back to work even if it means higher pay increases. Meanwhile, 58% said they want the government to wait on back to work legislation in order to avoid a larger pay settlement through arbitration.

The study was conducted by Campaign Research using the Maru/Blue’s online panel. The survey of 1,003 Ontario adults has an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1% 19 times out of 20.

blilley@postmedia.com