STF announces second single-day teachers strike on Monday

Saskatchewan parents must make child-care arrangements for another day without teachers on Monday.

Samantha Becotte, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation president, said in a news conference Thursday that teachers will walk off the job again on Jan. 22 in a move that follows a single-day strike held on Tuesday.

“The day after our first strike action, rather than acknowledging the outstanding efforts of teachers, the minister [of education] attempted to make it all about salary demands. If he had been paying attention, he’d know our job action was about so much more than that,” said Becotte.

She maintained that negotiating class size and complexity remain sticking points in negotiations with the provincial government. The province has so far refused to include those items in collective bargaining, saying they are issues best managed by local school divisions.

“Our government’s own data shows ballooning enrolment in the majority of our school divisions, but teachers and other critical resources aren’t keeping pace with this growth,” added Becotte.

“The math is simple: More students with fewer teachers means class sizes are growing. Students are facing long wait times for special supports, such as psychologists and speech language pathologists. Others are simply falling through the cracks, despite the best efforts of teachers and school staff. There is simply not enough support.”

Listen: Premier Scott Moe appears on The Evan Bray Show

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Premier Scott Moe told Evan Bray on Thursday that he agrees classroom complexity is an issue.

“There’s some distance between where we are and where we need to get to,” the premier said.

Moe defended the $53 million invested in education last year and compared it to Ontario’s investment of $38 million over the same time frame.

“We invest more in our education system than any other province across the nation on a per-capita basis,” he told Bray.

Moe said discussions around classroom complexity can’t happen at the bargaining table because several partners need to take part.

The premier added that the province needs to look at how ready teachers are to enter the education system, noting that the Provincial Education Plan that was released last year will start to lead these discussions.