The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Saskatchewan School Boards Association's response to last week's provincial budget comes down to three words: not good enough. 'As a result of the government's decision to fully fund PreK-12 education in Saskatchewan, school boards are on a fixed income determined by the province,' said SSBA President Janet Foord, 'and individual school boards have little flexibility to respond to challenges within school divisions.' In response to significant student growth in the province, the government committed to increased funding. 'What this means, though, is that the government at best is maintaining funding, not adding more resources to meet all students' achievement needs,' Foord said. 'The targets for which boards are accountable have been mandated by the government this budget does not provide the resources required to achieve those targets.' The province's Plan for Growth sets out targets for school divisions to improve student achievement and to close the achievement gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students. 'Currently, only 30 per cent of Aboriginal students graduate from high school in Saskatchewan,' said Foord. '(In the budget), the government announced a $3 million investment in First Nations and M_tis education _ that amounts to 0.0016 per cent of the total PreK-12 education budget. 'This is simply unacceptable if the goal of eliminating the aboriginal and non-aboriginal student achievement gap is to be realized.' _ Compiled from a Saskatchewan School Boards Association news release
