The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is urging candidates in this fall’s provincial and school board trustee elections to keep three particular commitments to public education front and centre.
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The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) is urging candidates in this fall’s provincial and school board trustee elections to keep three particular commitments to public education front and centre.
Launching a new election platform — the document is titled Check All the Boxes: Supporting Students, Teachers and Our Future in the 2024 Elections — the STF says it hopes candidates will focus on restoring and maintaining per-student funding in public schools, addressing class size and complexity, and addressing concerns over classroom violence.
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While STF president Samantha Becotte said Thursday that the STF “is a non-partisan organization” and it “will not endorse any particular party or candidate,” the issues raised as focal points have all been part of the contract dispute between the federation and the Saskatchewan Party government.
The NDP, meanwhile, has pledged to invest an additional $2 billion in education should it win the upcoming election.
“Education is a key issue for elections this fall, and we want everyone to know just how much their vote impacts Saskatchewan’s students,” Becotte said on Thursday.
Teachers went on strike earlier this year and pulled volunteer work to pressure the province to move on several issues. Both sides have since agreed to binding arbitration, with those talks scheduled for December.
The STF said its election platform highlights what its members are looking for from candidates in both the provincial and school board trustee elections.
“What we will do is encourage people to take part in our democratic processes, have their voices heard, and make informed decisions on the issues that affect the students and classrooms of this province,” Becotte said, adding that the STF hopes people will read the platforms “and choose the candidate who you feel will help address the issues in our public education system.”
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The STF’s platform notes that per-student funding in Saskatchewan is among the lowest in the country.
Nearly a decade of inadequate funding has led to school division budget cuts and a lack of access to support that students rely on “to help them learn, thrive and be safe,” the STF said.
“As I have been saying throughout my time as STF president, Saskatchewan’s public education system is in crisis,” Becotte said.
“These elections are an opportunity for Saskatchewan to demand better from our elected leaders on behalf of the students and schools who desperately need our system to improve.”
Binding arbitration between teachers and the provincial government is scheduled to take place from Dec. 16-20 in Saskatoon. The STF agreed to it in June, ending its second work-to-rule campaign.
Saskatchewan teachers previously rejected two contract offers from the provincial government, the first by more than 90 per cent of STF members, and the second by 55 per cent.
The latest offer, made in May, included the creation of a special task force on classroom complexity and language referencing an accountability framework signed by the STF, Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) and the provincial government and attached to the collective bargaining agreement as a memorandum of understanding.
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The offer also added an extra $18 million per year to the multi-year funding agreement (MFA) signed by the government and the SSBA in March. The MFA included a total budget of $356.6 million, with $40.7 million earmarked for “classroom supports” and $4.9 million for pilot programs.
School safety came to the forefront again in recent days, after a horrific incident at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon last Thursday.
A 14-year-old girl is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and arson. Police and witnesses allege the girl poured liquid from a black canister onto the head of a 15-year-old girl and lit her on fire. Both are students at Evan Hardy.
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