Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he's "disappointed" that Ontario's elementary teachers will be voting on a strike mandate as negotiations for a new contract with the province drag on.

“We're disappointed that ETFO has made a decision to hold a strike vote just weeks before kids are going back to school,” Lecce told CP24 in an interview Tuesday. “We think it's so important that kids remain in school after all the difficulty they faced and honestly I'm not sure what's more important than stability for kids.”

Lecce made the comment a day after the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) said they plan to hold votes in September and October to obtain a strike mandate in their negotiations. The group said teachers have been without an agreement for almost a year and that their “patience has run out.”

According to a document obtained by CTV News Toronto, the province offered the teachers an increase of 1.25 per cent per year, for four years, amounting to an overall increase of five per cent over the term of the agreement. However, the teachers have been seeking a one percent increase per year, along with a cost of living adjustment pegged to inflation each year.

Canada's inflation rate rose to 3.3 per cent in July, according to data released by Statistics Canada Tuesday.

“With respect to the offer, we've been negotiating. We've had over 170 meetings with our education unions,” Lecce said.

He added “we’ve offered something that we think is reasonable,” pointing out that Ontario elementary teachers would be among the highest paid in Canada.

“By potentially striking and walking away, that's not going to get us to a deal,” Lecce said. “So the government's gonna stay at the table, respect the confidence of the table and work hard on behalf of parents and families and taxpayers to keep these kids in school.”

But speaking with CP24, ETFO President Karen Brown said most of the meetings Lecce mentioned were not with ETFO.

“Minister Lecce needs to remember we've had really just 30 days between our two bargaining tables — so we have our education worker table and our teacher table,” Brown said. “And so we've had over a year almost, over a year of negotiations. This government is continuing to stall so they need to come to the table in good faith bargaining.”

She said that salaries for teachers in Ontario need to be higher in order to keep up with the high cost of living in the province.

“As far as teachers being the highest paid in the Ontario, it's in comparison to other provinces. It's very expensive to live here,” Brown said. “We know that the cost of living (is high) and so our compensation needs to keep on track with that.”

She pointed out the government has a $22 billion surplus and said they have “more than enough to invest in compensation for our members and the resources that students need.”

Brown added that the profession is also seeing a shortage of teachers because of the working conditions, such as a high level of violence in schools, and a lack of special education resources.

Speaking with CP24, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said nobody wants to see a strike and urged the government to get a deal with the teachers.

“I would just say I honestly know without question that nobody in this province wants to see our schools disrupted again, least of all education workers,” Stiles said. “But they're going to do what they need to do to make sure kids get the support they need. So I would suggest to the Minister of Education, he needs to get to the bargaining table right away. Roll up your sleeves, and make sure we get a deal done and that it's respectful to education workers in this province, so that we don't have further disruptions this fall.”

Hundreds of teachers with ETFO staged a solidarity walk to Nathan Phillips Square Tuesday as negotiations continued.