‘I am a retired teacher. and I would not advise anyone to become a teacher,’ writes Ernest Boehnert.
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The road to salvation for our beleaguered education system in Saskatchewan is strewn with more potholes and obstacles than you will find on a drive down Hwy. 123.
Our provincial government has decimated and deprived education of many requirements. In 2017, the government chopped $54 million from the education budget.
And teachers had to rally in front of the Saskatchewan legislature last year to get even a meagre amount reinstated. In the meantime, all education personnel were tasked with doing more and more with less and less.
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Many questions remain:
Why was the provincial government so reluctant to commit itself to binding arbitration and prolonged negotiations? Needlessly? Why did the provincial government waste taxpayer’s money on a billboard campaign to vilify teachers?
What magic mathematics was used to conclude that teachers would receive a 23 per cent raise?
With overcrowding in cold and drafty classrooms with leaky ceilings, are we providing an appropriate environment for learning?
COVID-19 left many Saskatchewan students behind in academic skills and, according to PISA international comparisons. Saskatchewan students scored lower than the Canadian average as a whole. Are these academic outcomes acceptable to the people of Saskatchewan?
Our province is close to the bottom for provincial per student spending on education in this country. At one time, we were close to the top of per capita spending on education. Is it OK to be second rate in provincial spending for education?
Why is the government so generous in funding private schools who do not have to follow the Saskatchewan education curriculum or employ qualified teachers?
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Our teachers endure physical and verbal abuse on a daily basis. Regular teachers are quitting their positions for less stressful employment as fewer people are entering the teaching profession.
What will our provincial government do when we reach the point where we encounter an acute shortage of teachers at a time when many more children are arriving in our classrooms?
I am a retired teacher. I would not advise anyone to become a teacher. It is time for every parent in Saskatchewan to become concerned about education.
Ernest Boehnert, Regina
Green, not black, is the colour
Who has decided that black is a good colour for the Saskatchewan Roughriders? We went through this poor idea a few years ago when fans said, black is not a colour of our choice … or frankly anyone’s choice.
Since nearly the very beginning of the Saskatchewan Roughrider football club, “Green is the colour” and white is its partner.
Please, get rid of those pathetic uniforms and dress up our Riders so they look stylish for their appearance in the 2024 Grey Cup. Please!
JIm Laing, Victoria
(Editor’s note: The Riders describe the colour of their alternative uniforms as obsidian green.)
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