REGINA – Today, Carla Beck, Official Opposition Education Critic, denounced the very real consequences students and families are facing due to the Sask. Party government’s cuts to education. School boards across Saskatchewan are continuing to take drastic steps and make cuts to staff and services in the lead up to budgets being submitted to the Minister on June 30th.
“I continue to hear from school boards, teachers and parents every day, concerned about what these cuts mean for kids going back to school in the fall,” said Beck. “The Sask. Party promised that no cuts to education would be made during the last election, then immediately turned around and passed a budget that starved school divisions into making these difficult choices.”
School boards across the province are facing budgetary shortfalls and are having to make challenging cuts in order to balance their budgets. Just this week, Regina Catholic School Board announced they would be modifying their bus routes, affecting 1,000 students, Saskatchewan Rivers Schools Division announced that they would be eliminating 25 teaching positions and Prairie Valley announced they were forced to cut 36 jobs to balance their books. These cuts will result in fewer supports and larger class sizes, which will be particularly devastating to students who are already falling behind and lacking support. This week, the Provincial Auditor reported 1 in 5 Saskatchewan kids are not ready for Grade 1 and that valuable supports for children with intensive needs are already lacking.
“At a time when we know our kids need more support to reverse pandemic learning loss, this government is cutting per-student funding and supports. School boards are doing their best to try to keep these cuts out of the classroom, but entering another year of million-dollar shortfalls, that becomes impossible,” said Beck. “After years of cuts, divisions have nowhere else to look. It’s shocking that after what Saskatchewan kids have been through over the last year, Premier Moe and this government are choosing to take dollars out of the classroom and cut investments in our children’s future. It is unconscionable and it’s wrong.”
The Official Opposition is calling on the province to work with school boards to assess and provide additional funding to meet the current needs coming out of this pandemic and to create a COVID recovery plan for students and schools over the next 3 years to ensure services and supports are available to Saskatchewan students at this crucial time.
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Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.