Escalated teacher job action puts strain on families, but classroom complexity is big issue, says parent

All Saskatchewan teachers are now working to rule, which means they are not participating in field trips, extracurricular activities and noon-hour supervision. The withdrawal is leaving some parents scrambling to get their kids in and out of school.

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) says the work to rule action is to get the province to agree to binding arbitration, mainly around class size and complexity.

Regina parent Dmitry Ciocea has a nine-year-old daughter with autism. Ciocea says their child was denied access to a regular classroom at a community school because schools did not have enough educational assistants. So Ciocea's daughter is enrolled in the Functional Integrated Alternative Program (FIAP), which she accesses at W. H. Ford Elementary School.

Because their daughter isn't in a community school, Ciocea said they cannot team up with other parents to ensure the nine-year-old has somewhere to go during the unsupervised noon hour. That has put a strain on Ciocea, who is also a student at the University of Regina.

Dmitry Ciocea has a 9-year-old daughter with autism, and says the strike escalation has a big impact on their family. (CBC News)

But it's also not easy on their daughter.

"It leaves us in a difficult position because I'm trying to figure out what I can do to get her the care that she needs at lunchtime. And beyond that, it's really difficult for her because of the disruption in routine. So I talked to her and I explained what's happening. But she also has an expectation of what her day is gonna look like," Ciocea said.

Meanwhile, Ciocea is completing an education degree, which has allowed them to see first-hand how classroom complexity is affecting both Saskatchewan teachers and their students.

"I've spent the last three weeks in classrooms where things like classroom complexity are very apparently a problem. We have more ESL students in the system than ever," said Ciocea.

"I spent more time than anyone should have to sitting on Google Translate with students who do not speak English, just trying to help them know what's going on. I'm having to learn as a professional how I can essentially work in an impossible situation," they said.

This, Ciocea said, has allowed them to see the collective bargaining dispute from two angles.

"I'm seeing it as a parent who's being impacted and I'm seeing it as somebody who's going to be impacted professionally in very short order."

The parent said they believe the children are suffering the most through the bargaining ordeal, especially those in large "under-supported" classrooms.

Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation president Samantha Becotte says the new collective agreement needs to work for everyone, but most importantly the students. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

Multi-year funding agreement negotiations

Before the work to rule plan was announced, the STF asked for one line in the collective agreement to ensure a multi-year funding agreement with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association. That line would ensure that funding couldn't be revoked.

But the province declined and job action escalated.

Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan's education minister, said he is very disappointed in the STF's decision to work to rule indefinitely.

He said the STF is not a signatory in the collective agreement.

"My concern is really having the multi-year funding agreement signed in the provincial collective bargaining agreement. That's a problem for government," Cockrill told reporters on Monday.

Samantha Becotte, STF president, told CBC that whatever is agreed upon within the collective bargaining process needs to be a solution that doesn't just work for teachers.

"It needs to work for government, and it needs to work for school boards and needs to work for the taxpayers of Saskatchewan. But most importantly, it needs to work for our students," Becotte said.

Saskatchewan Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill says he is very disappointed in the STF's decision to work to rule indefinitely. (CBC / Radio-Canada)

Cockrill said he is considering introducing legislation and adding accountability framework for how school divisions spend funds to address class size and complexity into the Education Act.

"What we would envision for the legislation is having the requirement and then, you know, obviously reviewing what school divisions put forward in the future and making sure that it lives up to that," Cockrill said.

The STF has welcomed an accountability framework, but insists that funding to address the problems of class size and complexity are guaranteed, and are not a budgetary decision.

Meanwhile, a Saskatoon mom is leading a call-in campaign in support of teachers. Nicole Berg, founder of the grassroots effort "Parents for STF" is encouraging people to sign up for 15-minute slots up until April 12 to call the offices of the premier and education minister.

"We're definitely trying to use our voices and hopefully get them to engage in conversation and see things a little differently," Berg said.

Under work to rule, teachers begin their shifts 15 minutes before the bell rings. Their day ends 15 minutes after.

"None of us are experts. We are families," said Berg.

"We have our day jobs and from our perspective, we trust teachers every day with our children, who are the most precious thing to us. And so if we trust them to educate our children and to care for them every day, why would we not trust them in this? So they have our full support all the way."

There is no word on if the STF and provincial bargaining teams will be meeting again anytime soon.