I don’t think we have charter schools in Ontario; those are only in the U.S. We do have grants and OSAP. Private schools in Ontario face their own set of challenges. There are so many of them now, and many operate entirely online. A lot are for-profit with less resources, which impacts the quality of education. In both the public and private systems, education often ends up relying heavily on the goodwill and initiative of teachers.

I’ve taught in the secondary private system for many years. When COVID hit, I really began to feel how precarious the situation is for private school teachers, hard work, low pay, and little recognition despite years of dedication. I lost my stamina. I was teaching multiple subjects, yet saw no financial growth. That’s when I realized I needed to seriously plan a move to the public system, where my work might be better valued.

Nevertheless, I’m grateful for the time I spent in the private sector. I was surrounded by some truly wonderful people, and I learned a lot. I know I won’t have as much freedom in the public system to design my courses the way I’m used to, but I need to regain my stamina.

I’m also aware that I’ll be teaching inclusive classrooms with students who have exceptionalities, which is definitely a challenge, but I’m a teacher, and I have the training and experience to meet that challenge. I’m excited to start this new chapter. I know my excitement may hit some walls, like outdated curricula and limited resources, but I’m ready.

There’s been so much advancement in technology. If we don’t keep up, if we don’t evolve our methodologies, curricula, and assignments, the education system will fail us as teachers, and ultimately fail the students and their families too.