The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) expressed disappointment with the provincial budget Wednesday, saying its bump in education spending won't keep the province from having the lowest per-student spending.In 2015-16, Saskatchewan had the highest school board operating spending per-student in the country, according to Statistics Canada. By 2021-22, it had fallen to eighth place, representing a reduction of 20.7% or $3,362 less per student, after adjustment for inflation.This preliminary analysis reveals that to maintain per-student funding at the 2015-16 level, per-student spending would need to increase by another 12%, which translates to an additional $268 million on top of the already announced $180 million. “Since the premier made the unusual move of announcing education funding two weeks prior to budget day, we have had time to dig into the numbers,” says STF President Samantha Becotte. “Instead of showing a real commitment to improve student learning conditions and teacher working conditions, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill and Premier Scott Moe are making things worse and that’s tremendously discouraging. Students, families and teachers deserve transparency, accountability and predictability in their publicly-funded schools, all of which are sorely lacking from this government.” According to Premier Scott Moe’s announcement on March 6, school operating funding will increase from $2 billion in 2023-24 to $2.2 billion in 2024-25, representing an increase of 8.8% or $180 million.The STF says as a percentage of total education funding, supports for learning have declined over time, from 15.1% in 2017-18 to 14% in 2024-25. The STF says although such funds are intended to address critical class size and complexity issues, this budget line is currently unrestricted. This means that school boards can choose to use these funds for other purposes, such as servicing debt, instead of being used to assist students with their learning needs.Teachers are adamant that restricting these funds to their intended use is essential to hold government and school boards accountable and the best way to achieve this is within the language of a provincial collective agreement. “We have no assurance that this year’s funding increases will continue in non-election years, and in fact, past precedent suggests that it will not,” says Becotte. “Saskatchewan’s teachers are once again bringing our concerns straight to government’s front steps, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to current and future students’ needs. Government needs to make the needs of students a priority and fulfill their responsibility of supporting public education.” More than 4,000 teachers picketed around the legislature the morning the budget was released. The STF says that since January 1, more than 3,000 emails have been sent to decision-makers in government and school boards, calling on them to bargain in good faith with teachers.The STF insists that guarantees on classroom size and complexity must be included in their contract with the province. The union gave the province a deadline of 3 pm Wednesday to agree to binding arbitration on the issue, the the province declined.As a result, the STF will carry out plans to deny extracurricular help to students on Thursday and Friday. Doing so will cancel the province's annual high school basketball tournament of Hoopla, as it did in 2020.In response to a query from Western Standard, the Sask Party government said Friday: "The interprovincial comparisons provided by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation are not representative of actual K-12 per student operating funding and are not provided on an ‘apples to apples’ basis. For instance – they appear to be including capital and other sector spending for other provinces while using only school operating funding for Saskatchewan."Below, charts from the STF compare per-student funding among provinces..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) expressed disappointment with the provincial budget Wednesday, saying its bump in education spending won't keep the province from having the lowest per-student spending.In 2015-16, Saskatchewan had the highest school board operating spending per-student in the country, according to Statistics Canada. By 2021-22, it had fallen to eighth place, representing a reduction of 20.7% or $3,362 less per student, after adjustment for inflation.This preliminary analysis reveals that to maintain per-student funding at the 2015-16 level, per-student spending would need to increase by another 12%, which translates to an additional $268 million on top of the already announced $180 million. “Since the premier made the unusual move of announcing education funding two weeks prior to budget day, we have had time to dig into the numbers,” says STF President Samantha Becotte. “Instead of showing a real commitment to improve student learning conditions and teacher working conditions, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill and Premier Scott Moe are making things worse and that’s tremendously discouraging. Students, families and teachers deserve transparency, accountability and predictability in their publicly-funded schools, all of which are sorely lacking from this government.” According to Premier Scott Moe’s announcement on March 6, school operating funding will increase from $2 billion in 2023-24 to $2.2 billion in 2024-25, representing an increase of 8.8% or $180 million.The STF says as a percentage of total education funding, supports for learning have declined over time, from 15.1% in 2017-18 to 14% in 2024-25. The STF says although such funds are intended to address critical class size and complexity issues, this budget line is currently unrestricted. This means that school boards can choose to use these funds for other purposes, such as servicing debt, instead of being used to assist students with their learning needs.Teachers are adamant that restricting these funds to their intended use is essential to hold government and school boards accountable and the best way to achieve this is within the language of a provincial collective agreement. “We have no assurance that this year’s funding increases will continue in non-election years, and in fact, past precedent suggests that it will not,” says Becotte. “Saskatchewan’s teachers are once again bringing our concerns straight to government’s front steps, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to current and future students’ needs. Government needs to make the needs of students a priority and fulfill their responsibility of supporting public education.” More than 4,000 teachers picketed around the legislature the morning the budget was released. The STF says that since January 1, more than 3,000 emails have been sent to decision-makers in government and school boards, calling on them to bargain in good faith with teachers.The STF insists that guarantees on classroom size and complexity must be included in their contract with the province. The union gave the province a deadline of 3 pm Wednesday to agree to binding arbitration on the issue, the the province declined.As a result, the STF will carry out plans to deny extracurricular help to students on Thursday and Friday. Doing so will cancel the province's annual high school basketball tournament of Hoopla, as it did in 2020.In response to a query from Western Standard, the Sask Party government said Friday: "The interprovincial comparisons provided by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation are not representative of actual K-12 per student operating funding and are not provided on an ‘apples to apples’ basis. For instance – they appear to be including capital and other sector spending for other provinces while using only school operating funding for Saskatchewan."Below, charts from the STF compare per-student funding among provinces..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.