The Sask Party Government is laying all their cards on the table.
The teacher’s strike has been dragging on for weeks, with both sides accusing the other of wrong doing. Teachers want to bargain class size and class complexity at the provincial level, with the people who pay the bills.
The Sask Party Government has been adamant they want those issues to be bargained at the school division level, so each elected school board can make its own decisions.
The two sides are not talking, so the Sask Party government has decided to try and break the impasse.
In a post on social media, Premier Scott Moe broke with tradition, and announced the education portion of the provincial budget. The budget will be introduced March 20th.
In the post., the premier says this will be the largest increase in school operating funding in the province’s history.
“It will be a 180 million dollar increase in funding” the premier says “up nearly nine percent to 2.2 billion dollars”.
The premier goes on to say the 2.2 billion dollar education budget will include 356 Million specifically allocated to classroom supports.
The premier says teachers should end their job action, and return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair deal for them, and for the tax payers of Saskatchewan.
Teachers have said they will not return to the bargaining table without the provincial government willing to bargain on class size and class complexity.
The Saskatchewan Teachers Federation has not commented either through a statement, or through social media.