Achi news desk-
Saskatchewan’s education minister is being accused of trying to influence a teacher vote after saying he is not ruling out extending the school year if educators reject his proposal and take action.
Saskatchewan Federation of Teachers president Samantha Becotte says Jeremy Cockrill’s comments are disappointing as members decide whether to accept the contract.
Teachers are voting this week on a proposed deal with the government that would see pay rises over the next three years and a commitment to honor promises of more funding for classrooms.
“I think it is an attempt to influence the decision of teachers this week, and possibly influence the public if sanctions continue,” said Becotte in an interview.
“Whatever is decided with the school year, that is their choice and the choice of school boards, and they will be the ones making that decision regardless of what teachers do.”
Cockrill said Wednesday that job implementation in recent months has resulted in less instructional time and that students deserve a quality education.
He said no one wants to see a longer school year, but he has ministerial powers to make adjustments to the calendar if necessary.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that Saskatchewan students receive the instructional hours required under legislation,” he said. “If there is no vote and if there are further job penalties, then obviously we would want to work with our partners in the schools department to understand how we can ensure that children receive a year’s worth of education.”
Teachers have gone on rotating strikes and refused to do volunteer activities, including lunchroom supervision and extracurricular work, while pushing for more support for students.
A job action in March caused the cancellation of a provincial basketball tournament called Hoopla.
Cockrill said some school divisions have seen less classroom time than others. He did not say how many hours have been lost.
“We will work with school departments to understand what has failed and how we will account for that,” he said.
Becotte said two departments lost five days of teaching time, while others saw less than that.
He said some departments chose to end school days earlier because teachers did not provide lunchroom supervision.
“Those were school sharing decisions and they are the ones who should be doing their due diligence to make sure they are making the right decisions about adaptation,” Becotte said.
“Yes, we have had sanctions which have affected training time, but we have also had school years where there are more snow days.”
The federation has been neutral on whether members should accept the deal.
Voting is due to end on Thursday evening and the results are expected to be shared shortly afterwards, said Becotte.
If members voted no, he said the federation would request another round of negotiations with the province.
— This report was first published by The Canadian Press on May 8, 2024.
