After promising some money to school divisions in the wake of a rally in front of the Legislature over the weekend, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is saying it’s not enough.
In a media release issued today, STF President Samantha Becotte said it will take $400 million to restore funding back to 2012 levels.
“Government’s failure to fund this year’s enrolment is just the latest in a long list of instances where the provincial government is ignoring students’ needs,” Becotte said in a release.
The STF said that the Fraser Institute was first in funding for the 2012-13 year, but has now dropped to eighth. The STF also notes that the percentage of the provincial budget gong to education has been decreasing year over year – from 13.5 per cent in 2018-19 to 11.3 per cent in 2022-23 and finally to 10.9 per cent in 2023-24. There are 377 fewer teachers now than in 2020-21.
“More than 3,500 people showed up at the Legislative Building on Saturday to make noise for education,” Becotte’s release said. “Government either isn’t listening or is choosing not to. If government chooses to continue to ignore the crisis they’ve created in public education, we will only get louder and louder.”
The STF added that since Duncan declined to attend the rally, the STF said they would be pleased to offered him an opportunity to hear directly from the teachers about the realities in schools.
