Teachers negotiating to include classroom size and complexity in their contract may be new to Saskatchewan, but it’s not new elsewhere. The President of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation introduced teacher representatives from British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick during a virtual news conference Tuesday morning. Samantha Becotte says articles to address class size, complexity, classroom violence and/or supports for students are included in their collective bargaining agreements. She explains that the Government of Saskatchewan has announced funding outside of the contract, but even if there were a Memorandum of Understanding which stated it would continue yearly, it is not legally binding, so could be cut at any time.
Saskatchewan teachers and students are on break this week but job action is expected to resume next week and STF has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday morning. The beginning proposal from Saskatchewan teachers includes ratios for professional supports including the ratio of teachers to number of students, and ratios with English as additional language supports, mental health, educational psychologists and Education Assistants to be used as a baseline. Becotte understands that strikes are disruptive, but if there is no renewed mandate from the government, escalation of job action could mean more disruptions. Instead, the STF would like to get back to bargaining to come to an agreement not just on salary and benefits, but also protections around working conditions, which means classroom size and complexity.
B.C. Teachers’ Federation President, Clint Johnston, says work load language like class size, composition and specialist service ratios drive resources and supports into the system and the language also protects students and teachers from government policy changes and damaging cuts, which is what happened in B.C. Class size and complexity were at one point stripped from the agreement. “Classes got bigger, teachers were laid off and students paid the price. Thankfully we won that language back in the Supreme Court of Canada. It was a long road to get there, but the decision was swift and decisive. It was easy for Canada’s top court to recognize the authority of collective agreements.”
President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, President Karen Brown, says they pushed to get additional staffing and resources for its members and to ensure the policies were designed to make schools safe places to teach and learn. “If this can happen in Ontario, then it can certainly happen in Saskatchewan. Positive changes for students, teachers and schools can happen at the bargaining table when the parties work together to affect positive change.”
Past President of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association and Canadian Teachers’ Federation Vice-President, Connie Keating, adds, “One contributing factor to ensuring positive learning environments in New Brunswick is that successive governments have valued class limits to address classroom complexity.” She suggests that given the unprecedented population growth in rural and urban communities in that province, this has ensured predictability for students, parents and teachers.
