If you're a parent of a public elementary school student, you're going to have to make other arrangements this Friday.

Tens of thousands of elementary school teachers and education workers in the province are set for a one-day protest Friday over the government's decision to force new collective agreements.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario says the majority of its 76,000 members voted in favour of a political protest should the education minister force contracts on them.

ETFO president Sam Hammond says the government made a ''deliberate and provocative'' choice to wipe out the democratic rights of educators rather than negotiate.

But Education Minister Laurel Broten says the teachers aren't in a legal strike position and any strike action would be illegal.

She wouldn't say what kind of penalties striking teachers may face, saying that's up to the Ontario Labour Relations Board.