By Neil Armstrong
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| Photo contributed Jennifer Brown, new president of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT), a Local of the Elementary Teachers of Ontario (ETFO) |
Jennifer Brown is the newly elected president of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT), a Local of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) – and its first Black leader. With over 11,000 members, it is the largest teachers’ Local in Canada.
Her tenure begins July 1 – Canada Day – and the term is for two years.
“God is a very present help in a time of need. I was in need of making some changes and the membership was in need of making some changes and the Lord had his way and I’m just so pleased about that,” she said, noting that there was a record amount of participation from the membership.
She attributes this to many factors but said a major reason was COVID-19 and the fact that everybody is in front of their computer.
“I would love to maintain that level of engagement from the members in their overwhelming mandate that they have given to myself and my colleagues who are the leaders of this Local,” says Brown, a first-generation Canadian of Jamaican descent whose parents hail from Cornwall Mountain, Westmoreland and immigrated to Canada in the 1970s.
During her 12 years on the executive, she has worked with four ETT presidents serving in a variety of capacities: chief negotiator, grievance coordinator and vice president.
Starting out as a classroom teacher in the former City of York at Keelesdale Public School and as someone who asked a lot of questions, it was her principal who directed her to the union.
“I was very much someone interested in learning and interested in advocating and when I saw something that was wrong I would question it, I wanted understanding,” she said.
Soon she became a steward and regional councillor serving in that role for a while before she came to the notice of the executive which encouraged her to run in an election.
Brown felt that it wasn’t her time to do so and that she was there to teach and be with her students. However, she maintained involvement in the union, noting that it felt like she had two jobs.
During her fourth year at school, she decided to give it a try and was elected in 2002, sitting on the executive until 2008 and then left to raise her family.
When she returned to the classroom, Brown realized how much things had changed and she did not like what she saw.
“Having the experience of a system-wide perspective I understood how to bridge those together,” she said, noting that she returned advocating for teachers and their working conditions, and moved towards more involvement from the membership.
In 2017, she was the interim vice president and was eventually acclaimed in that role. Brown served in that position for a year until she was elected president this month.
Regarding the difference that she wants to make, Brown said racism exists and “to deny it is to lie to ourselves” so she wants to “call it out and look for solutions to tear down systemic barriers by identifying and fixing them.”
“That is my goal, I’m working on it now, right now, because there is no place for it.”
She said right now in 2020 there are teachers being discriminated against in a school in Toronto and they should not still be facing these types of issues.
Brown, who was born in Toronto, said it was not until she moved to Mississauga at the age of seven and was in Grade 3 that she knew she was Black.
She experienced taunting by children, her hair looked different, and she said it was a rude awakening and although this happened many years ago it was impactful.
“I never saw a teacher who looked like me. Growing up it was not something that I saw myself as becoming. I got to Grade 11 and that’s the first time I saw a Black teacher. She was the only one in the entire school – Ms. Hope Edwards – I remember her name.”
Brown wanted to be a teacher before seeing Ms. Edwards but did not know that it was possible until she saw the educator.
Brown describes herself as someone who likes to rise to a challenge -- if she sees a problem and can think of a solution she likes to implement it to effect a positive change.
Her top priority when public health determines that it is safe to return to the classroom is the COVID-19 safety protocol to be put in place for teachers and students.
This includes having the necessary equipment to maintain their health and staying safe, and having supplies to ensure that every classroom has access to soap, paper towels, a sink so that handwashing is a regular thing.
She also wants to work with the Toronto District School Board to examine the various procedures to deal with their newest learners – the kindergarteners – who do not understand rules and touch everything.
Brown said she is looking at different models around the world to see how they are managing so that her team can make suggestions to the board about these practices.
She also identified maintaining social distancing and teaching in a way that is equitable as other areas of priority.
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