As the Government of Saskatchewan announced its election year education budget in the assembly – thousands of teachers voiced their disapproval in front of the province’s legislature.

Much of the province’s education funding announcements were already made public in a rare pre-budget address  by Premier Scott Moe on March 6.

The Ministry of Education will receive a $3.3 billion budget for 2024-25. The figure represents a $247.8 million increase overall.

Total education spending in the province – including post secondary, immigration and career training as well as regional colleges – equals out to $4.4 billion.

Saskatchewan’s 27 school divisions will receive $2.2 billion in operating funding – marking a $180 million increase from the 2023-24 budget.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, Moe said the record education funding is a response to calls for help from across the province.

“Saskatchewan people are asking for that investment. Our students and their families are asking for that investment. The teachers are asking for that investment. The school divisions have signed a four year agreement saying that that will be the base investment moving forward,” Moe said.

“The only one that has not agreed to this investment is the [Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation] union and we again would ask them to return to the table.”

The STF maintained that despite the government’s claims, the current budget would need a 12 per cent increase to return per-student spending to 2015-16 levels.

“[This] translates to an additional $268 million on top of the already announced $180 million,” an STF news release read.

According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan’s school board operating funding per-student was the highest in Canada in 2015-16 and has dropped significantly since then.

“By 2021-22, it had fallen to eighth place, representing a reduction of 20.7 percent or $3,362 less per student, after adjustment for inflation,” the release read.

Classroom supports

A total of $356.6 million of the budget will go toward classroom supports – up 14.7 per cent from last budget.

The $45.6 million increase includes ongoing funding for the province’s various pilot projects  aimed at classroom complexity  – a key issue in the current labour dispute between the province and the STF.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said the pilot projects will narrow down how funds can be used most efficiently.

“We need to start to drill down as to whats needed and where and that seems to be the biggest question because complexity is indeed very complex,” she said. “We could have put more money there but were not sure yet the most effective way and were going to be working with all of our partners to identify that for future budgets.”

The STF claimed that funding for classroom supports have declined as a percentage of total education funding – dropping from 15.1 per cent in 2017-18 to 14 per cent in 2024-25.

Additionally, the federation aired its concerns over the “unrestricted” nature of the funding.

“This means that school boards can choose to use these funds for other purposes, such as servicing debt, instead of being used to assist students with their learning needs,” the STF release read.

“Teachers are adamant that restricting these funds to their intended use is essential to hold government and school boards accountable, and the best way to achieve this is within the language of a provincial collective agreement.”

NDP Finance Critic said the STF’s concerns are validated by past behaviour from the province.

“Theres a reason why there are thousands of hard working teachers out in front of the building here today,” he told reporters. “They remember a 2016 election year budget that was heavy on promises. But those promises were broken later that year, when devastating cuts were imposed.”

New schools announced

The province’s $216 million education capital budget will include funding for the planning of nine new schools – which include new public and catholic joint-use elementary and high schools in east Regina and Saskatoon.

“Acknowledging that with immigration, population increase, we have more students coming into the classroom, so we need more classrooms,” Harpauer said.

Premier Moe noted that one of Saskatoon’s proposed schools is already planned to house around 3,400 to 3,600 students.

“Its an incredible size of school, and not one that I think even 10 or 15 years ago would even be under consideration in this province,” he said. “Thats just significant of how quickly our population is growing.”

The capital budget will also include $28.5 million for relocatable classrooms to help address overcrowding concerns.

On the picket line

The STF projected more than 4,000 teachers took part in demonstrations in front of the legislature on Wednesday – their second trip  to the legislature within a month.

The budget announcement comes as teachers are set to cap off their tenth week of strike action on Friday.

Bargaining between the STF and the Government Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC) originally began in May of 2023.

Educators in Saskatchewan have been with without a contract since August of 2023. The STF declared impasses in negotiations in both November and February – citing government’s refusal to bargain on issues of classroom size and complexity.