Nearly 2,000 rally outside Sask. minister's office in support of teachers

Nearly 2,000 people attended a rally in Saskatoon on Saturday, according to the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF), in support of Saskatchewan teachers after a contract impasse.

The third of a series of rallies organized by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) was held outside the office of Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, Paul Merriman.

After contract negotiations with the provincial government hit an impasse earlier this week, 90 per cent of teachers in the province voted on possible sanctions, which ultimately passed with 95 per cent approval.

In response, the Saskatchewan Party government said the union was the one to walk away from the bargaining table, and that sanctions could be harmful to students and their families.

The Saturday rally, led by STF Vice-President Nathan Bromm, included children, parents and teachers, who were chanting "no more cuts" and "do better."

Bromm said teachers are being overworked in crowded classrooms and that the minister sits on the treasury board, which gives him the power to allocate more funding to education.

"Paul Merriman used to run a food bank, he should understand the problems faced by many of our communities," Bromm said.

"He should understand that the great equalizing power of public education is to give every student the opportunity to succeed, regardless of socioeconomic status or their learning needs."

CBC News reached out to the province for comment, but did not hear back by publication. 

Workload, funding challenges

Curtis Bourassa, who works as a principal in rural Saskatchewan, said one of the main reasons he showed up to the rally was his workload.

"I teach four grades all at the same time, and often the case is I teach all four curricula at the same time too," said Bourassa, adding it's been difficult to run the school with only one period where he is not teaching.

Another teacher in attendance, Stephanie McCormick, said she wanted to show her support because she can see how a "frustrating" and "disheartening" lack of funding has been impacting her students.

"Students who deserve [educational assistants'] support aren't able to get it, large class sizes mean that I can't give one-on-one attention to students on a daily basis and especially in rural schools, school counsellors are really tough to come by," said McCormick.

'Kids are being left behind'

Rachel Engler-Stringer and Peter Garden spoke at the rally to tell the story of their two sons, one of whom suffered in the school system because of a learning disability. 

Engler-Stringer said their eldest son is bright and outgoing but struggled with learning to read, which eventually led to him falling behind and getting bullied.

That's when Engler-Stringer and her partner, she says, went against their principles "as strong advocates for public education" and sought a private assessment, instead of waiting in the year-and-a-half queue to see an educational psychologist.

The assessment confirmed their son had dyslexia.

"Because of understaffing, his school would not provide enough hours of intervention to begin to get our son up to grade level," said Engler-Stringer.

"What about the parents who don't have the education and resources to be stubborn advocates for their children?" Garden said. "Those kids are being left behind."

Garden said because of the additional supports, they were able to get their son "from struggling to thriving" in school. 

"During last week's parent-teacher interviews, we got nothing but glowing reviews from his teachers about his performance and his interest in classes," said Garden 

"The problems in the system that we see are not because of lazy teachers, they are because the system is deliberately underfunded year after year."

STF's last rally is scheduled for Nov. 4 in North Battleford.