Although there's nearly three months before a possible teachers' strike, parents outside Lord Dufferin Public School were already preparing for the worst yesterday.
Manianga Samuel said his heart sank when he heard that Ontario's largest teachers' union is threatening a strike vote if they get nowhere with the school board by Feb. 13.
"It's going to affect me a lot because now I have to think about what I'll have to do," Samuel, 36, said while picking up his two daughters from the Regent Park school.
"Will I have to forgo this job I'm applying for? I can't leave my kids home alone. My wife is taking English courses, so that's a priority."
It's unfair that the education system would jeopardize children's right to schooling, Samuel said.
Joyce, Samuel's 6-year-old daughter, said she would feel disappointed if she couldn't go to school, "because I want to do more work."
Jahaneis Ali, 41, agreed. Even though his 6-year-old girl could stay home with her mom, a strike makes kids suffer, he said.
"This is not a good way to protest this," Ali said.
Deanna Singh, 43, said she supports closing the funding gap between elementary and high schools, but a strike means bad news for her family.
"(My daughter) would fall behind, I just hope they don't do it," she said. "If they do, I'd have to take time off and try to find child care. It's impossible."
