Now that two virtual meetings with members are complete, details of the tentative Provincial Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Teachers' Bargaining Committee and Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee are being made available to the public.
"We've long acknowledged that the challenges in public education took a decade to create, and won't be all be solved in one agreement," says STF President Samantha Becotte. "The STF Executive believes this tentative agreement makes important steps forward on the most pressing issues facing Saskatchewan teachers, students and families - including class complexity."
Term of the Tentative Agreement
- Three-year term, from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2026.
Classroom Complexity
- An Accountability Framework will be signed by the STF, government and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association and attached to the Provincial Collective Bargaining Agreement as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
- This will provide transparency and teacher voice on school divisions' allocation of funding meant for classroom supports.
- An additional $18 million per year to address classroom complexity will be added to the Multi-Year Funding Agreement (MFA) that was signed by government and SSBA and referenced in the above-mentioned MOU.
- Creation of the Minister's Task Force on Classroom Complexity, which will be attached to the PCBA as a Letter of Understanding (LOU). The Task Force will be comprised of teachers, students and parents. The STF is pleased to have bargained an opportunity that affords teachers, parents and students a voice on their experiences with the underfunding of public schools and to share the challenges of classroom complexity.
- A final report, including solutions, will be presented to the Minister and is intended to ensure direct input from those who deliver education and experience learning.
- A policy table on violence-free classrooms will be established, with terms attached to the PCBA as an LOU.
- The table will be chaired by the Ministry of Education and include representatives from the STF and SSBA.
- It will determine the scope of the issue, definitions, data collection and a reporting schedule.
Salary
- 2023-24: 3 percent
- 2024-25: 3 percent
- 2025-26: 2 percent
The tentative agreement also includes provisions on the Supplemental Employment Benefits Plan, grievance procedures, principals and vice-principals, and a Truth and Reconciliation preamble. STF members will take part in a ratification vote on May 29 and 30. Results of this vote will be made available the evening of May 30.