PARENTS STANDIN G ORGANIZING TO BUILD STRONG AL
BY NIGEL BARRIFFE, YOLANDA B’DACY AND HELEN VICTOROS
O 26 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2019
n the morning of June 6, 2019, something inspiration- al happened at more than 300 schools, mainly in To- ronto, but also in Peel, Ham-
ilton, Waterloo, Kawartha Pine Ridge, Avon Maitland, Simcoe, Limestone and Bluewater. Before the first bell of the day rang, par-
ents, teachers, education workers, students and supporters gathered together in front of their schools, colourful homemade signs and banners on display, chanting, march- ing, singing and sending a common mes- sage to this government:We are outraged by the attacks on our schools and our communi- ties. We won’t be divided in our common de-
mand now and going forward to reverse the cuts and reinvest across the public sector so we can create the schools and communities we need and deserve. Called “Walk Ins” and modelled after
the hugely successful examples of these ac- tions across the United States over the last two years, they were an awesome display of grassroots organizing and solidarity between parents and education workers. The site of the organizing for these actions
was the school. No PR campaign or billboard ad was responsible. At the elementary level, the success of the Walk Ins was directly at- tributable to the groundwork laid over the last few years by teachers and parents beginning to
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE COUSINS
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