Sask. education minister offers to put accountability framework into legislation

As Saskatchewan teachers step up job sanctions with "work to rule" measures this week – Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill has offered to include accountability framework into the Education Act.

As Saskatchewan teachers step up job sanctions with "work to rule" measures this week – Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill has offered to include accountability framework into the Education Act.

“Obviously when you put something in The Education Act, that becomes law,” Cockrill told reporters on Monday.

“So I think that was our effort to show that we’re serious about the accountability framework, school divisions are serious about the accountability framework, and that was an option we wanted to put out there.”

Cockrill revealed the offer during question period debate on Monday. In his answer, he said it was presented to the leadership of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF), where it was declined.

Measures to address classroom and complexity issues have been the main point of contention between the STF and the government since the beginning of bargaining talks last May.

Educators have demanded accountability from the government and insist on including the framework in their collective bargaining agreement – a proposal the province has outright denied on multiple occasions.

Of the $3.3 billion allocated to the Ministry of Education in the 2024-25 budget – $356 million in funding was earmarked for the issues of class size and complexity.