‘Where’s the funding?’ Students gather in front of MLA’s office in solidarity with teachers

Dileone said students gathering in front of government offices would like to see a conversation between elected officials and students standing in support of their teachers.

“I want Jeremy Harrison and the government to realize we’re mad and we want change. We are a priority as much as anyone else,” she said. “We feel left out that [the provincial government] have cut budgets from teachers and students now and we just feel like we’re not a priority.”

Dileone said every student received a fee document at the beginning of the school year which indicates out-of-pocket costs for students to participate in extracurricular activities. She said students are often faced with selling higher ticket prices to their events to pay for equipment to perform their activities.

“With our drama club, we have two lights instead of three. We’re not even getting proper lighting to perform on our stage,” she said. “We’ll probably have to pay out of pocket, which means we have to sell higher priced tickets.”

Elisabeth Thompson, Grade 11 student thinks it’s unfair for the government to say teachers are walking away from students.

“The government is trying to say teachers are walking away from us when in reality they’re fighting for our benefit,” Thompson said. “They’re taking a stand and risking public backlash to ensure they have enough funding to have us in reasonable class sizes.”

Thompson described the current class situation where students are limited to one question and are required to come after class for additional clarification which has been limited as part of the sanctions.

“When I was in soccer, we’d have girls on the team who couldn’t come to games because it got too expensive and that brings down morale,” she said. “It makes them just not want to participate in things any more if they have to say they can’t come because they can’t pay.”

Sean Bernard, Grade 9 CHS student sacrificed his final class for the day to stand in solidarity with students and teachers.

“I think this is a step to get our voices heard as students and for teachers who can’t say much right now,” he said.

Bernard said students are often motivated to come to school because of the participation in extracurricular activities.

“I see most students are upset because they usually come to school for extracurriculars and I’m seeing less students showing up because they don’t get that chance,” he said.

He said teachers appear gloomy to him and he’s not happy with the disruption in the middle of the school year.

“I’m hearing complaints about the lack of information provided to students. I somewhat know but I can’t explain much,” he said. ”As you can see, students are mad about this.”

Bernard said the moment he arrived to school on the bus this morning, he rushed to class to compensate for the time cuts imposed on schools.

“As soon as I stepped off the bus, the bell rang and I had to run to school,” he said. “Some were late and it’s not even their fault.”

Bernard said he feels forced out of the school by the end of the day because of imposed sanctions.

“I’m missing class and it’s worth it to have our voices heard and to tell our community what’s going on,” he said. “I feel this is equally important.”

Students gathered at approximately 2:30 p.m. and chanted “where’s the funding” as cars honked in support.

Harrison’s staff said the MLA is in Regina today and was unable to provide a comment immediately.

Earlier this week, before offering a new deal to the STF, education minister Gord Wyant said “it’s the union that has walked away from these negotiations and it’s the union that has walked away from the children in our classrooms.”

With files from CKOM

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722

by Nicole Reis

‘Where’s the funding?’ Students gather in front of MLA’s office in solidarity with teachers

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