People for Education is a unique organization in Canada: independent, non-partisan, and fuelled by a belief in the power and promise of public education. We create evidence, instigate dialogue, and build links so that people can see — and act on — the connection between public education and a fair and prosperous society.
People For Education
Public education. Public good.
New Findings Show Principals Under Pressure
February 2021 report recommends additional supports for school administration, clearer and more consistent communications with schools
Initial findings of People for Education’s 2020/21 Annual Ontario School Survey (AOSS) show that principals are dealing with an exceptional set of challenges related to running schools during a pandemic. The survey results include responses from 1173 schools from across Ontario, including 906 in-person, 226 hybrid, and 41 virtual schools. Principals are now responsible for ensuring that new provincial COVID screening and reporting requirements are followed each day, acting as liaisons with local public health units, and implementing new policies connected to COVID-19 including maintaining staff and student cohorts and physical distancing. In February, principals also became responsible for daily validation of staff and student self-screening in all schools, and weekly reports on asymptomatic testing in 5% of schools per board.
“The physical running of the school has been quite successful despite the current circumstances. However, the staff (myself included) are absolutely exhausted. It feels as though we are expected to function as always with an enormous amount of new (COVID-19) expectations to follow.”
—Principal, in-person elementary, Northern Ontario
Read the full report Read the article Read the media release
The latest People for Education articles
Summit 2020 Highlights & Resource Bank
Our team has compiled a Summit 2020 resource bank. We’ve included resources shared by both our speakers and attendees as well as recordings of plenary sessions. We hope you enjoy revisiting the Summit or taking a look for the very first time!
Consultation on a Right to Education Framework
Every young person in Canada has a right to education, but currently there is no way of knowing how that right is being upheld and no way to know if all children and young people are able to access a quality education.
Statement from People for Education on anti-Black racism
Anti-Black racism is a reality in our society and in our schools. For many years, People for Education has focused on a range of inequities in Ontario’s education system, but never explicitly enough on the racism that permeates the system.
Remote office
We continue with our virtual office in 2021. Our PFE team members will be glad to respond to inquiries promptly via email.
| Leadership: | Research: |
| Annie Kidder, Executive Director | Elyse K. Watkins, Senior Policy & Research Manager |
| Eloise Tan, Research Program Director | Kate Blair, Project Manager |
| Tracy Fawdry, Advancement Director | Summer Cowley, Research Manager |
| Asia Kotasinska, Research Coordinator | |
| Operations: | |
| Ruvani Ameresekere, Office & Operations Manager | Media inquiries: [email protected] |
| Danielle Wong, Administrative & Communications Coordinator | |
The New Basics
Skills for success in our rapidly changing world
What skills do your kids need in their backpacks to thrive at school, at home, and in life?
What is important in education?
Supporting students’ mental health:
A collective responsibility
With student mental health needs on the rise, how can everyone share in the responsibility of supporting our students? 
We looked at in-school resources, the impact of geography, innovation in promoting school-wide mental health, and the costs of not addressing student mental health.
To find out what’s next and to see our recommendations, read our latest report on student mental health here.
Why public education?
We asked students, educators, parents, and researchers to answer the question "Why public education?"
Here is what they had to say...