The Saskatchewan Teachers Federation feels little assurance over newly announced provincial money for education and wants commitments on class sizes written into its contract.On March 6, Premier Scott Moe posted a video to Twitter ("X") to announce the province would add $180 million to the education budget, a 9% increase that would bring total funding to $2.2 billion. Of this, $350 million would address class sizes and complexity in a $45 million increase.STF President Samantha Becotte attended question period March 7 and spoke to reporters after."I didn't realize that the government's official communication came through Twitter all the time," Becotte said."They put up billboards across the province and I passed one this morning that said, funding in education is at $2.1 million. The premier's talking about $2.2 billion. I've told you that I am a math teacher. And that doesn't add up to $180 million. So there's some creative rounding that's happening."Becotte acknowledged even a $100 million increase would be a "significant number" but wondered how such dollars would be spent."We need assurances that school divisions are going to direct those funds to the classroom," she said."School boards should have no issue with committing that those dollars are going to be put to the classroom and put to students' supports. It's not about taking away local autonomy."Becotte said bargaining on a new teacher's contract cannot resume until Saskatchewan makes guarantees on classroom sizes. However, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill told reporters that was a non-starter for further discussions."Our position is that questions around addressing class size and complexity are not to be in a provincially bargained agreement. I've been very clear on that. The premier has been clear on that," Cockrill said.Cockrill said school board representatives in recent weeks have also made clear to him they do not want to be shackled by legally-binding guidelines on classroom sizes. He said money designated for classroom supports will go there, but on other matters local boards know best."There is no desire from school boards to negotiate class size and complexity into the provincially bargained agreement. We've heard loud and clear from from school boards, from the Saskatchewan School Boards Association," Cockrill said."It really comes back to the uniquenesses that we have across the province in terms of communities."Cockrill said the teacher's federation walked away from bargaining in October and conciliation followed in December. Only 30 minutes of negotiations have followed, but Cockrill claims it's the teachers' union that walked away."We brought forward a revised mandate with several items that the Teachers Federation leadership asked for, provisions around workplace safety, the ability to manage their own dental plan and utilization of some of these dollars that we've announced recently, as well as a salary offer that reflects the cost of living," Cockrill said."That shows that government wants to get a deal done, because again, we believe that students and teachers need to be in the classroom. We've seen what disruptions do to students and teachers and really our education system writ large in recent years and we don't want to see those disruptions."Becotte, however, said government negotiators have not been given the latitude to offer teachers what they are looking for: a ceiling on class sizes written into the contract."Making a long-term commitment where there's accountability and where there isn't an exit strategy from it would build a huge amount of trust. So providing it in the collective agreement, where there isn't a clause where they can remove funding arbitrarily, or where it can be grieved, there can be a dispute resolution process if they don't uphold those commitments."Becotte pointed out how the province increased education funding in 2016, only to wind it back in 2017 and only partially restore it in 2018.NDP leader Carla Beck, a former school trustee, said she had "zero" trust in the government based on its track record."We've seen this government make announcements and proclamations about the most money ever in budgets, only to find when the details are on the table, that it's not quite what it appears to be," Beck said."This is what I'm hearing, top of mind, that the dollar amount almost is secondary to the fact that no one trusts their numbers. No one trusts that they're going to do what they say they're going to do in education."
The Saskatchewan Teachers Federation feels little assurance over newly announced provincial money for education and wants commitments on class sizes written into its contract.On March 6, Premier Scott Moe posted a video to Twitter ("X") to announce the province would add $180 million to the education budget, a 9% increase that would bring total funding to $2.2 billion. Of this, $350 million would address class sizes and complexity in a $45 million increase.STF President Samantha Becotte attended question period March 7 and spoke to reporters after."I didn't realize that the government's official communication came through Twitter all the time," Becotte said."They put up billboards across the province and I passed one this morning that said, funding in education is at $2.1 million. The premier's talking about $2.2 billion. I've told you that I am a math teacher. And that doesn't add up to $180 million. So there's some creative rounding that's happening."Becotte acknowledged even a $100 million increase would be a "significant number" but wondered how such dollars would be spent."We need assurances that school divisions are going to direct those funds to the classroom," she said."School boards should have no issue with committing that those dollars are going to be put to the classroom and put to students' supports. It's not about taking away local autonomy."Becotte said bargaining on a new teacher's contract cannot resume until Saskatchewan makes guarantees on classroom sizes. However, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill told reporters that was a non-starter for further discussions."Our position is that questions around addressing class size and complexity are not to be in a provincially bargained agreement. I've been very clear on that. The premier has been clear on that," Cockrill said.Cockrill said school board representatives in recent weeks have also made clear to him they do not want to be shackled by legally-binding guidelines on classroom sizes. He said money designated for classroom supports will go there, but on other matters local boards know best."There is no desire from school boards to negotiate class size and complexity into the provincially bargained agreement. We've heard loud and clear from from school boards, from the Saskatchewan School Boards Association," Cockrill said."It really comes back to the uniquenesses that we have across the province in terms of communities."Cockrill said the teacher's federation walked away from bargaining in October and conciliation followed in December. Only 30 minutes of negotiations have followed, but Cockrill claims it's the teachers' union that walked away."We brought forward a revised mandate with several items that the Teachers Federation leadership asked for, provisions around workplace safety, the ability to manage their own dental plan and utilization of some of these dollars that we've announced recently, as well as a salary offer that reflects the cost of living," Cockrill said."That shows that government wants to get a deal done, because again, we believe that students and teachers need to be in the classroom. We've seen what disruptions do to students and teachers and really our education system writ large in recent years and we don't want to see those disruptions."Becotte, however, said government negotiators have not been given the latitude to offer teachers what they are looking for: a ceiling on class sizes written into the contract."Making a long-term commitment where there's accountability and where there isn't an exit strategy from it would build a huge amount of trust. So providing it in the collective agreement, where there isn't a clause where they can remove funding arbitrarily, or where it can be grieved, there can be a dispute resolution process if they don't uphold those commitments."Becotte pointed out how the province increased education funding in 2016, only to wind it back in 2017 and only partially restore it in 2018.NDP leader Carla Beck, a former school trustee, said she had "zero" trust in the government based on its track record."We've seen this government make announcements and proclamations about the most money ever in budgets, only to find when the details are on the table, that it's not quite what it appears to be," Beck said."This is what I'm hearing, top of mind, that the dollar amount almost is secondary to the fact that no one trusts their numbers. No one trusts that they're going to do what they say they're going to do in education."
