You have lost important rights under the Education Act.

In 2017 the Education Acts was overhauled, with almost all processes for public input repealed or weakened.

What you have lost 

The Annual Electors’ Meeting

• The right to freely question trustees and directors in a public assembly.
• The right to put forward resolutions and vote on them.
• The right to run your own annual meeting and elect your own chair.

Freedom to choose your representatives

• Teachers and school staff — who have first-hand knowledge of the system and its problems — are no longer able to stand for election as trustees, unless they quit their jobs and wait two years.
• This is in direct contradiction of public employees’ rights under the Local Government Elections Act, and your right to vote for whoever you think will do the best job.

Local control

• Sweeping powers have been given to the Minister of Education to direct almost all aspects of education in your community and “do any things that the minister deems advisable.”
• The minister can now issue a written directive to your local school board “to take any action that the minister considers necessary.”
• If there is any resistance, the minister can now suspend the board and appoint a single person to take over the work of the trustees you elected.

Protection of your rights during school and program closures

• All the provisions for public input into closure decisions have been removed from the Education Act.
• Guaranteed rights like public notice, public meetings, and limits on transportation distances are now mere regulations, easily changed or discarded by minister’s order.

What you can do

1. If you are in Regina, join us at the Regina Public Schools meeting Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6:15 p.m. outside Harbour Landing School. We’ll be handing out information about the changes and calling on the board to schedule an annual electors’ meeting nonetheless — like Regina Catholic Schools are doing.
2. Wherever you are in Saskatchewan, call on your trustees to publicly stand up for your rights. Ask them what they will do to help restore your rights under the Education Act.
3. Contact the Minister of Education and make it clear what you think about having your rights erased from the Act. Remind the minister that democracy is not optional.
4. Call on all Opposition parties to make the full restoration of citizens’ rights under the Education Act part of their platforms. Ask them where their party stands on these changes and what they intend to do about it.

Contact information

Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre
Phone 306-787-0613
Minister.edu@gov.sk.ca

NDP Education Critic Carla Beck
306-522-1333
reginalakeview@ndpcaucus.sk.ca

PC Party of Saskatchewan
Phone: 306-693-7572
e-mail: pcsask@sasktel.net

Green Party of Saskatchewan
306-881-4174 info@saskgreen.ca

Your school trustees and board chair.
Let them know you want them to publicly support a restoration of electors’ rights under the Act.