Ontario’s public elementary school teachers returned to the bargaining table today but the session was over almost before it began.

The teachers, who have been without a contract since last September, started a work-to-rule campaign today.

Schools remained open and extracurricular activities and field trips are continuing , but the teachers are not  administering standardized tests, adding comments to report cards or participating in any professional development related to Ministry of Education initiatives.

Teachers’ union president Sam Hammond says they returned to the bargaining table at the mediator’s request, expecting the government would be removing certain concessions from the table, but that wasn’t the case and the meeting ended at 11 a.m.

The elementary teachers’ job action comes as more than 70,000 high school students are being kept from class by strikes at boards in Durham Region, Peel Region and Rainbow District, encompassing Sudbury.

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