Ontario Schools Shut by Teachers Strike

Ontario’s 126,000 teachers shut down virtually every public and parochial school in the province with a massive walkout aimed at blocking the provincial government’s plans to reorganize how Canada’s largest school system is run. The strike promises to test whether Ontarians support conservative Premier Mike Harris’ aggressive attack on the province’s budget deficit or feel he has cut too deeply into social, health and education programs. The action could sideline the province’s 2.1 million students for a week or more. No previous teachers strike in the U.S. or Canada has affected so many pupils. Harris said his government was considering legal action to force the teachers back to work.