Preserving Quality Education
The Sask Party government has cut the number of EAs by 200, forced teachers
to take job action, and the number of students in each classroom has
increased by 9% (2010 Saskatchewan Education Indicators, p. 116).
The Sask Party government has openly admitted to a plan to reduce the
number of EAs in Saskatchewan, although they have quibbled about how
significant those cuts will be. One estimate went as high as a 75%
reduction. Already, under the current government’s watch, the number of
EAs in our province has been cut by approximately 200.
But the Sask Party didn’t stop there. They undermined our education
system further by failing to value the important work teachers do.
Instead of bargaining in good faith and devoting the necessary resources
to our education system, the Sask Party left teachers with no choice
but to take a strike vote. 95% of teachers voted in favour of job action
and, for the first time in our province’s history, teachers across
Saskatchewan went on strike.
While classroom size consistently declined under the previous
NDP government, the Sask Party government has reversed that trend.
Average class size has increased by 9% under the Sask Party’s watch.
Education is an investment not only in our children’s futures, but
also in our province’s future. The government should value the work of
education assistants and teachers.
Questions for Candidates Running in the Provincial Election
Printable PDF of Questions for candidates
Legislative/Labour:
Essential Service legislation (Bill 5) and changes to The Trade Union Act (Bill 6) have created unfairness for all public sector workers. It took away the right to strike, and made it impossible to achieve a fair collective agreement. It took away the right to organize, and it invited employers like SAHO (Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations) to waste thousands of tax payer dollars on media campaigns against health care workers. What are you planning to do about Bill 5 & Bill 6? (more…)
Assistants Needed
Paul Miazga
Published Thursday September 8, 11:27 am
EA cutbacks hurt the most vulnerable of students
For decades, incorporating “special” or “intensive” needs students into regular classrooms has been a fact of life in Saskatchewan — and rightfully so, as many studies bear out the major gains that come from doing so.
In large part due to determined parents, children born with Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other disabilities are included in the classroom rather than isolated from other students. Educational assistants, or EAs, work with many such children in order to make the idea of inclusiveness a reality — but their work seems currently under threat. (more…)
Union blasts EA cuts
By Angela Hall, Leader-PostAugust 25, 2011
The number of educational assistants working in Saskatchewan schools has taken a steep decline over the past few years despite an increase in students with intensive needs, the provincial arm of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said Thursday. (more…)
Questions still surround failed merger: NDP
Improper spending alleged
BY JAMES WOOD, THE STARPHOENIXSEPTEMBER 15, 2011 8:55 AM
There are still too many unanswered questions around the irregularities discovered in connection with the aborted merger of Carlton Trail Regional College and St. Peter’s College, the NDP said this week. (more…)
Massive Cuts to Student Support (CUPE)
For immediate release: August 24, 2011
REGINA—Hundreds of educational assistants (EAs) have lost their jobs while the number of intensive needs students climbs steadily, according to new numbers obtained by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Saskatchewan.
Ministry of Education documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that 350 full-time equivalent EA positions have been cut since 2007. Because EAs typically are part-time workers, the union estimates the loss to be many hundreds of individual EAs from the education system, province-wide. (more…)
Student activities cancelled
Teachers begin to withdraw volunteer work
By Jeanette Stewart, The StarPhoenix May 31, 2011
Student activities continue to be a casualty of ongoing job action by the province’s teachers. (more…)
Teachers strike for second day
Teachers traded textbooks for picket signs on the second day of a two-day strike, arriving by the hundreds at the provincial legislature on Thursday to rally in support of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation demand for better wages. (more…)
Inclusive education needs EAs in class
Kevin McTavish
Special to The StarPhoenix
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The following is the viewpoint of the writer, executive director of the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living.
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Recent news that 41 classroom support staff in the Prairie Spirit school division are losing their jobs is of great concern to the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living. (more…)
