Sask. educational support workers call on gov’t to increase funding for schools

Educational support staff rallied at the legislature on Tuesday to call for more funding. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News)

A group of educational support workers who rallied at the legislature on Tuesday had one clear message for the government as they continue to face burnout: more funding in schools.

They held signs with quotes from the results of a survey in September that polled 750 CUPE union members in 20 school divisions across the province.

According to the survey findings from a CUPE report titled “Falling Through the Cracks,” burnout and stress is at unprecedented levels for educational assistants, janitors, bus drivers, and library techs, caused by years of underfunding.

Carla Sastaunik, chairperson of the educational workers steering committee of CUPE Saskatchewan voiced her frustrations on Tuesday.

“I can tell you every single day, every single person who is working in public education in this province goes home sad and dejected because we can not do what education workers were hired to do in this province. That is to educate, support, and provide a safe and healthy workplace for children to learn in this province,” she said.

NDP MLAs joined educational workers in their message on Tuesday, emphasizing the need for more funding in schools.

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“Things are not improving — in fact, we hear from teachers and parents that public education is in worse shape than ever,” NDP MLA Matt Love said. “There’s less support for individual students, larger class sizes and unacceptably long wait times for specialists like speech pathologists.”

Minister of Education Everett Hindley said he met with school support staff this past summer and heard their concerns.

“There was more funding put into classroom supports in this year’s budget, about 10 or 11 per cent increase, and that does go to positions like educational assistant, and other support staff,” he said. “Is there work to do? Certainly, there is, but I think we’ve made some significant strides over the last number of years.”

- With files from Gareth Dillistone