Striking workers at both the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina will be back at work on Monday after both sides agreed to refer the outstanding issues in the contract dispute to binding arbitration. The agreement was reached this afternoon with the assistance of provincial conciliator Doug Forseth. The two sides met for 14 hours yesterday and returned to the conciliation table at 9 a.m. today. It's not the resolution we wanted, but the government's threat of back-to-work legislation meant 'arbitration' was the only topic of discussion at the conciliation table," says CUPE 1975 bargaining chair Brad McKaig. "Since both employers appeared to prefer legislation to negotiation, it had a huge influence on what we could achieve at the table."

A Critical Assessment of Leithwood and Jantzi’s “Review of Empirical Evidence about School Size Effects: A Policy Perspective” (Consultants’ Report for the Regina Public School Board, August 2007) and Some Alternative Policy Recommendations

by J. F. Conway, Trustee, Subdivision 5, Regina Public Schools, and Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology and Social Studies, University of Regina, November, 2007

Introduction

As part of the system renewal process, the Board contracted the services of a qualified consultant to provide a review of the research on “best practices” with regard to school size. This was considered prudent given the growing body of evidence accumulated over the past two decades indicating that small schools, at both the elementary and high school levels, are much more effective than large schools. An awareness of such evidence will assist the Board in making wise school closure decisions. The consultant was asked to review the evidence available about the effects of school size along a number of dimensions, including academic achievement, social and psychological impacts, community integration, impacts on “at risk” children and “at risk” neighbourhoods, effects on extra-curricular participation, and consequences for teacher effectiveness and satisfaction.

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HJ Linnen Associates’ Phase 2 Consultation Report on the renewal process underway in Regina Public Schools was released to the public in June 2007. An estimated 1000 people attended 57 information meetings where members of the senior administrative team laid out the options and issues. Neither Mr. Linnen nor the elected Trustees played a role in these meetings.

Under the title ‘Renewing Regina Public Schools,’ the Regina Public School Board has come forward with a plan to close 12 elementary schools and two highschools over the next 10 years. In case you should think that’s a bad thing, here are a few bon mots from their report:

“The Renewal Plan emphasizes a commitment to choice.”

“Choice within the Plan includes…opportunities for all younger siblings to benefit from the choice a family makes following a school merger, subject to two-year reviews.”