'Our students deserve better': Teachers converge on Sask. Legislature in 'Rally for Public Education'

Large crowds gathered in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building Saturday afternoon, to highlight worries around resources and funding for public education in the province.

The ‘Rally for Public Education’ was organized by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF).

The organization described the rally’s goal as giving a voice to worried educators.

“It has taken decades of cuts to get to this point. Teachers do their best to make do with what we have,” Samantha Becotte, president of STF told CTV News.

“We see more burnout. We see more teachers leaving the province. Our students deserve to have Saskatchewan teachers stay here, get the experience and become those high quality teachers so that they can have the best possible instruction.”

Anyone interested in “maintaining high-quality, publically funded public education” was welcome to the event. According to organizers, around 3,000 people attended the rally.

This included Bob Philips, a retired principal with Regina Public Schools.

“I've seen the direct impact of decreased funding from this provincial government over the last 10 years. It's just time to put kids as a priority,” he said.

“The needs of children have just gone through the roof and the supports for those kids [are] just continuing to dwindle, as school boards need to make difficult decisions about funding.”

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The Rally For Public Education was held in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on April 29, 2023. (Luke Simard/CTV News)

In its news release for the event, STF claimed that the number of students in Saskatchewan in need of intensive supports are currently up 38 per cent.

Additionally, the release claimed that Saskatchewan has fallen from first to sixth place in national per-student funding.

According to organizers, thousands were in attendance for the afternoon rally in Regina. (Luke Simard/CTV News)

“Year after year, we have only seen one increase in funding that has actually exceeded the rate of inflation in the last decade. This last budget was just the straw that broke the camel's back,” Becote said.

“Teachers are angry. The public is angry. Kids, we can hear, are angry, and we can't keep doing what we're doing.”

(Luke Simard/CTV News)

Education Minister Dustin Duncan previously stated he would be meeting with school divisions in several weeks to discuss if the province’s funding formula for education needs to change.

In his comments to reporters on April 24, Duncan explained that rising enrollment and the concerns surrounding it are not evenly felt across Saskatchewan.

“Several school divisions have actually seen enrolment decline or flat enrolment, so this is predominantly … the large urban areas that are facing this issue,” he said.

A study published on April 26 by the Fraser Institute, measured student enrollment across Canada.

According to the report, the absolute number of students aged 5 to 17 years old across the country declined 0.2 per cent from 2000 to 2020.

Along with the total decline, public school enrollment also dropped across Canada.

“Every province except Alberta (increase of 24.7 percent) recorded a decline in the absolute number of students enrolled in public schools,” the report read.

“Every province, including Alberta, also experienced a decline in the share of total students receiving their education from public schools.”

The vast majority of Saskatchewan’s students are currently enrolled in public schools, totalling 71.6 per cent.

This is followed by 23.3 per cent being enrolled in separate Anglophone schools, 2.8 per cent in independent schools, 1.5 per cent being homeschooled and 0.9 per cent in public francophone schools.

For Becotte, she hopes the demonstration hasn't fallen on deaf ears within the halls of the legislature.

“Parents, students, teachers all want what's best for our kids and this government needs to listen,” she said.

“I think they need to take note of what happened today and start putting an investment in our students and into the future of our province.”

With files from CTV News' Mick Favel and Luke Simard.