The recent layoff of 80 educational assistants, EAs, at Saskatoon Public Schools has raised significant concerns amongst school support staff and their union, CUPE 8443.
“The layoffs at Saskatoon Public Schools will hurt all students – but will disproportionately impact Indigenous students,” said Dene Nicholson, president of CUPE 8443. “The current situation is devastating to our students and our staff.”
This travesty at Saskatoon Public Schools stems from the federal government’s mishandling of applications for funds through Jordan’s Principle. This Government of Canada funding tool is designed to narrow the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth.
Government officials have recently reported that there is a backlog of over 140,000 applications. Saskatchewan has the highest number of unprocessed applications with more than 33,000 claims pending. School divisions in both Alberta and Manitoba have both announced layoffs due to delays in funding. Several Indigenous governments and provinces have announced they will be stepping in to provide stop gap funding to services usually funding through Jordan’s Principle.
“CUPE is calling for the provincial government to follow the lead of Newfoundland and Labrador and step in with immediate funding to address the shortfalls from the federal backlog,” said Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “This will limit the destructive cascade of harm and disruption to classrooms and our kids, and to our members.”
While immediate action is needed, CUPE is demanding that the next provincial budget has a significant investment in front line supports for education.
“From the perspective of CUPE 8443, Saskatoon Public Schools’ reliance on Jordan’s Principle funding has been necessary to address gaps created by provincial underfunding. This ongoing underfunding represents a setback in the critical process of reconciliation,” said Nicholson. “The upcoming provincial budget must rectify this situation and provide sustainable funding for classroom supports.”