"We are confident that we will successfully negotiate long-term agreements with our unions and federations that will preserve stability and progress in our schools," Peel District School Board Chair Janet McDougald said at this week's start of the school year.

The existing contracts with about 6,000 elementary and 3,200 secondary school teachers at the Peel board expired at the end of August, along with the rest of the teachers in Ontario's public schools.

School boards, teachers' unions and other school board employee groups began meeting with the provincial government months ago to set a framework for hammering out new contracts. The same approach was used three years ago to create the long-term deals now up for renegotiation. The process established government funding commitments for major issues such as staffing costs, salary increases and teacher preparation time.

To date, several unions, including elementary and secondary school teachers in Ontario Catholic schools, have entered into new framework agreements that would include three per cent pay increases in each of the next four years. However, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) have so far rejected the framework deal.

School boards and unions that fail to reach agreements under the provincial framework by the end of November will be forced by Ministry of Education regulations to settle for two per cent annual salary increases for the next two years.

The OSSTF wants to focus negotiating for its teachers at the local board level, not at provincial framework discussion tables and is asking the government for flexibility to use government funding in a manner that meets the unique needs of each local public school system.

The ETFO walked away from provincial talks claiming the provincial government is unwilling to provide elementary schools with as much funding as its high schools. High schools currently receive about $711 more per a student than elementary schools, according to the federation.

This week, ETFO President David Clegg said the union would not sign a long-term agreement "that does not ensure fairness" for elementary school students and closure of the funding gap between elementary and secondary schools. Salary is not the issue, he insisted.

"The federation will not return to the provincial discussion table under the threat of an ultimatum or deadline," Clegg said.

Both teachers' unions have not dismissed the possibility of coming to terms with the province, but have indicated plans to focus on negotiations at the local school board level.

McDougald noted it is early in the negotiations process and useless to speculate on an outcome. She did hint the board would not be offering anything it could not afford.

"Any settlement reached must focus on fairness to our staff, ensure students success and safety and be fully funded by the province," she stated.