Patrick Maze, president of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, spoke on budget day about K-12 funding.
According to an STF release, Maze acknowledged Premier Scott Moe made good on his promise to reinstate $30 million in education funding.
Moe previously made the promise when he was campaigning to be Saskatchewan's premier after Brad Wall resigned.
Maze said despite the received funding, the amount doesn't make up for $54 million with which the provincial government didn't fund K-12 education last year, compared with the previous year.
"Inflation was running at 1.7 per cent last year and is currently tracking at 2.7 per cent in Saskatchewan, so a 1.6 per cent increase in education spending this year won't keep up with inflationary pressures," Maze said.
Maze added with more students and less teachers, the budget "won't make it easier to meet the needs of students."
The total budget for K-12 education in the province this year is $2.5 billion.
The release stated last year, school divisions saw an increase of 2,500 students and 188 fewer teachers.
Representatives from Living Sky School Division said earlier this month the division plans to have a budget by the end of June. The division is receiving approximately $59,700,000, which is $653,000 less than last year.
Board chair Ronna Pethick said this funding decrease is largely due to 123 less students projected to attend the division's schools.
Pethick said the division would receive more funding later if more students than expected attend the division's schools.
