Thousands of teachers pack the picket lines on Saskatchewan budget day

More than 4,000 protesters surrounded the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on budget day Wednesday, frustrated that teacher contract negotiations have gone on for this long.

Music played and flags waved as cars honked in support of teachers on Albert Street.

Teachers and supporters waved signs that said “A poor education system is a poor society” and “Magic in our schools takes funding in our contracts.”

Lana McCormac drove from Moosomin. She teachers at pre-kindergarten in the afternoons at MacLeod Elementary School, and teaches a busy classroom of three- and four-year-old kids.

Her main concern is that the province will claw back the education budget after the election.

“It’s scary,” she said. “The money sounds amazing, but until it’s in our contract, it’s not guaranteed.

“We’re terrified. They’ve done it before and we are scared that it is going to happen again.”

Teachers were at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Wednesday as part of a provincewide strike. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

The contract between the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the provincial government expired in August, and the union declared an impasse in negotiations in October.

Teachers voted overwhelmingly in support of job action, with those sanctions beginning in January. Teachers have used one-day strikes, the withdrawal of lunch-hour supervision and the withholding of extracurricular activities to try to force the government’s hand.

A one-day provincewide strike allowed teachers to gather Wednesday at the Legislative Building. The withdrawal of extracurricular supervision on Thursday and Friday has resulted in the cancellation of the three-day Hoopla basketball championships.

A major sticking point in the teachers’ contract negotiations has been classroom size and complexity.

The Saskatchewan Party released the education portion of the budget early to try to encourage the STF to return to the table, with Premier Scott Moe announcing the budget would include $356 million for classroom supports.

STF president Samantha Becotte said the teachers’ union would not return to the table until that amount was written in a collective agreement.

Many of McCormac’s students need extra supports like a speech language pathologist. In her division, there is only one occupational therapist, and kids hardly get to spend any time with them. She wants to see more funding so kids can get the help they need.

“Classroom complexity and class size is really our main issue,” McCormac said. “We are in solidarity with all the STF and even when we are 2 1/2 hours away from Regina, it’s important to come.”

Ever since Alex Meeres has been teaching in Saskatchewan, he said he has watched education funding dwindle.

“I’ve seen our government make excuses and make promises they don’t keep,” he said. “Teachers here want to get some results for our students so we can see our classrooms improve — and it has to be something we can rely on.”

He doesn’t have any doubt that the big education budget will be clawed back after the next provincial election.

“Budget day is a day for promises that evaporate,” said Meeres. “After elections, we want to see something that students can rely on for their future because it’s for the future of our whole province.”

Meeres teaches in Milestone but sends his kids to school in Regina. He says all students have unique needs in rural and urban schools, but they all need funding to support them.

“A Grade 12 right now has had 12 years of declining funds and undersupports,” he said. “I think about a student going into kindergarten — will they have 12 years of that?”

Dawn Ganshirt is growing weary now that the contract negotiations have gone on for this long.

“It’s absolutely frustrating,” said Ganshirt, who’s employed by Regina Public Schools. “I think somebody said it last time around that we had a strike that, ‘Who knew kids’ futures in the province would be such a hard sell to our government?’

“Kids are our future and if we want an innovative province with looking towards the future, we want to be well-educated in the classroom.”

Teachers were at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Wednesday as part of a provincewide strike. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)