Education Minister Dustin Duncan. (File Photo/980 CJME)

By Susan McNeil

EDUCATION FUNDING

Sask. teachers say student needs are being “triaged” and $40M increase needs to be higher

Jun 2, 2023 | 4:27 PM

The Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation (STF) is asking the province to make its education budget predictable and sustainable, saying that right now teachers are having to pick and choose which students get needed support.

President Samantha Becotte, said there are not enough professionals to make sure all students are successful.

“We’ve been talking about triage in our classrooms and what that looks like is that students aren’t getting their needs supported,” said Becotte.

If the Moe government wants to say the province has growth that works for everyone, she said, then the least it can do is make sure school funding keeps pace with inflation.

“We want to see that, but we need to ensure those people that are coming to Saskatchewan have a high-quality public education and if we can predict that they’re coming, we should be able to tie that into our education funding because when people come to our province, they often come with families and with kids,” she said.

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On Thursday, the province announced a $40 million increase in education funding with $20 million allocated to address school enrolment growth and the other half for hiring more staff.

That represents about a 2 per cent increase but the inflation rate for April is over 5 per cent, Becotte pointed out.

“Actions speak louder than words and $40 million is a clear statement that the realities of education and the realities of classrooms today has not. The message has not been sent to them, and they haven’t really listened $40 million is a two per cent increase but April inflation is at 5.2 per cent for Saskatchewan,” she said.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com