Teacher union wrong to oppose partnership between Saskatchewan schools

If students don’t learn how to read in school, not much else that happens there will matter. But not all reading programs are created equal. Research is clear that phonics, where students learn how to sound out individual letters and words, is vastly superior to “whole language” programs where students guess the meaning of words based on their context.

Fortunately, some school boards are starting to recognize the importance of phonics. For example, the new pilot partnership between Saskatchewan’s Prairie Spirit School Division and Roadway Literacy, an independent school, is great news for students and their parents. Roadway Literacy, which uses a “Science of Reading” program that relies heavily on phonics instruction, will help provide literacy programming in two Prairie Spirit classrooms, along with tutoring for students who are having difficulty. The Moe government will provide $170,000 to support this partnership.

However, instead of celebrating this decision, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) is crying foul. According to the STF, this is yet another example of the Saskatchewan government taking money out of the government school system and giving it to private agencies.

But this argument ignores the fact that this funding benefits children in government schools, not just the independent school. And this decision was made by the democratically elected trustees of Prairie Spirit who determined that their partnership with Roadway Literacy is in the best interest of their students.

And based on test scores in the province, all school boards should be looking for ways to help students improve. From 2003 to 2022, the latest year of testing data, Saskatchewan student reading scores on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of 15-year-olds have dropped 28 points (for context, PISA equates a 20-point decline with one year of learning loss). Saskatchewan students are also 23 points behind the Canadian average in PISA reading scores.

Predictably, the STF says the government should simply increase funding for government schools. However, there’s no evidence that more money leads to a better education for students. In fact, each year Manitoba spends about $1,000 more per student than Saskatchewan yet reading and math scores in both provinces are roughly the same. Meanwhile, neighbouring Alberta spends significantly less ($13,421 per student versus $15,216 per student in Saskatchewan) and achieves better academic results.

It's unfortunate that the STF has forgotten that educating students is the most important duty of teachers. Instead of complaining about a school board collaborating with an independent school, the STF should celebrate the fact that students might benefit from increased literacy skills because of this partnership.

If teacher unions wish to be relevant in the 21st century, they should drop their tiresome mantra that government schools are underfunded. In reality, government public schools are well-funded in all 10 provinces.

As for the argument that independent schools drain money from government schools, it’s important to note that qualified independent schools in Saskatchewan such as Roadway Literacy only receive 50 per cent of the average per student funding ($15,216) that government public school boards receive. In other words, independent schools save taxpayers money.

For example, during the 2022-23 school year, 1,654 Saskatchewan students were enrolled in qualified independent schools. If all these students switched over to the government school system, this would add more than $12 million in costs to the provincial education budget. If the government cut funding to independent schools, it would put an even greater strain on the government school system.

Of course, we could avoid this debate if parents could direct full provincial education funding for their children to schools of their choice. By giving parents a real choice of where their children attend, individual school administrators would be forced to listen to parents. Otherwise, their enrolments would rapidly dwindle.

Clearly, the partnership between Prairie Spirit and Roadway Literacy is a positive step forward. We should all celebrate any move that helps students get a better education. All students must learn how to read, no matter which school they attend.