Sask. government commits to fully funding next contract with teachers

The Saskatchewan government will fully fund the contract it negotiates with the province's teachers, the Minister of Education said.

The two sides were supposed to meet this week for another round of negotiations but that was pushed back to mid-Septemberdue to a scheduling conflict.

"I think it's the obligation of the government to fund that contract," Wyant said on Thursday.

"We're going to be moving forward with some good faith negotiations with respect to the teachers with the [Saskatchewan Teachers Federation]and certainly hope that we can resolve those issues and get a contract as soon as we can."

Class sizes, class composition and salary increases have been identified as three main areas of priority for the province's 13,500 teachers.

The STF is asking for salary raises of a two per cent increase during the 2019-2020 year, and three per cent increases in the following two years.

The organization also wants principals, vice-principals and assistant principals to receive an extra allowance for the extra work they provide. The STF has asked for an altered, condensed salary grid as well. Details for the STF's public bargaining strategy have been posted to the organization's website.

Wyantsaid on Wednesday in Saskatoon that he isn't a fan of the STF's transparency tactic, saying it takes away from the ability to have "frank and honest" conversations at the bargaining table.

"I'd like to conclude the negotiations as quickly as possible because it's just something that kind of ends up being a distraction for teachers in the classroom," Wyant said.

"We want to make sure thatwe don't have that distraction."

Carla Beck, education critic for the Sask. New Democratic Party, said teachers are stressed because the resources available to them were not keeping up withgrowing and increasingly-diverse classrooms.