P.E.I. teacher to lead national federation

A Prince Edward Islander will lead the Canadian Teachers' Federation for the first time starting next July.

Bethany MacLeod was elected president-designate at the federation's annual general meeting this week in Edmonton.

MacLeod said one of the key issues she'll be taking on in her new role is violence in schools.

"Everyone is seeing that school violence is on the rise. It's very difficult learning conditions for our students and then working conditions for our teachers," she said.

"This is definitely something we want to take on, because ultimately if we can make working conditions better for teachers, what we really want is to make the learning conditions better for our students."

Violence linked to resources

The CTF released a new report on classroom violence this week.

The study found more than 70 per cent of teachers reported an increase in classroom violence. It linked that violence to a lack of resources and supports for students.

MacLeod has been president of the P.E.I. Teachers' Federation since 2015 and will stay in that position until next July, when she will move to Ottawa to officially take on her new national role.

The CTF represents nearly 200,000 teachers across the country.

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