Premier McNeil is defending the decision to cancel classes Monday because of safety concerns calling it the only option.
The premier also confirmed the legislation which the government was planning to introduced would have imposed a contract on the teachers which they voted against in October.
He says there are no plans to bring that bill forward for now.
Thousands of teachers, retired teachers; and other union members rallied outside Province House yesterday evening to support the teachers.
They carried signs that read “Negotiate, Don’t Dictate; “Respect the Profession,” and “Let Teachers Teach.”
Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia Tories have launched an online petition calling for the firing of Education Minister Karen Casey.
Leader Jamie Baillie called her handling of the contract dispute with the province’s teachers “incompetent and unethical.”