Critics say Saskatchewan\u0027s top\u002Dup funding model for education creates issues for school divisions, teachers and students.
Following Duncan’s $40 million announcement Thursday,was “woefully inadequate” to meet the needs of schools and students in the province. Saskatchewan Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced top-up funding at Bishop Filevich Ukrainian Bilingual School in Saskatoon, where he was surrounded by dozens of students, many of whom wore embroidered Ukrainian shirts and later sang a song in Ukrainian.
“Even with the additional funds announced today, our public schools require significantly more funding to address years of abysmal budgets and cuts from this government,” said STF president Samantha Becotte in a press release issued Thursday.Article content“It’s becoming a norm where school divisions are essentially begging the ministry for additional funds, and that’s not investing,” Becotte said. “We’ve heard the premier and the minister say that we’ve been heard, and clearly they are hearing but they’re not listening to the messages that teachers, parents and students are talking about.” Mark Benesh said the genesis of the Chinook School Division deficit was a $6 million cut to the division’s operating budget in 2016-17. “Since that time, we’ve been having to reduce,” Benesh said. “And the level of inflationary supports in funding have been well below inflation.”Article content Benesh said the operational pressures experienced by Chinook are being experienced by most school divisions in Saskatchewan. “If it’s not 100 per cent, almost every school division in this upcoming budget year who have been facing some deficit budgeting,” he said. “Everyone in the province is struggling.” Saskatchewan School Boards Association president Jamie Smith-Windsor said the $40 million injection will help stave off some cuts that school divisions have been warning are coming, but doesn’t address all of the concerns in the sector. “I’m not sure that it goes as far as covering all of the inflationary costs and those kinds of things that boards are concerned about, but it will provide some additional relief,” said Smith-Windsor on Wednesday.Article content Jamie Smith-Windsor, president of Saskatchewan School Boards Association. TROY FLEECE / Regina Leader-PostThis marks the second year in a row that the Ministry of Education has delivered funding injections after releasing its annual budgetWhile seeing more money funnelled to education is good, both Smith-Windsor and Becotte said the after-the-fact delivery is undercutting schools. “The top-up funding model has become the norm in Saskatchewan, but it doesn’t take into account the challenges that creates for school divisions, teachers and students,” said Becotte. “June 1 is pretty late to the game,” said Becotte, of the announcement. Smith-Windsor said the biggest questions now are whether the conditional $20 million earmarked for increasing staff will have more strings attached. “It’s certainly a good first step, that we’re starting to address the importance of class complexity in this province,” said Smith-Windsor. “But it’s not just a one-time or short-term issue.”
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