Ontario public high school teachers' union gets new leader

Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, speaks during a press conference in Toronto on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (The Canadian Press/Aaron Vincent Elkaim)

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TORONTO - The union representing Ontario's public high school teachers has a new leader.

Paul Elliott, a teacher from Fort Frances, will be taking over from president Ken Coran starting July 1.

Members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation elected Elliott at their annual meeting Sunday in Toronto.

Coran had decided not to run for re-election.

The union, which represents about 60,000 teachers and education workers, has been battling the Ontario Liberals for the past year.

The fight reached a boiling point in January when the government imposed new two-year contracts that cut benefits and froze the wages of most teachers.