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Declining enrolment
Declining enrolment in elementary and secondary schools has been the predominant issue in the sector.
Between 2000 and 2008, enrolment declined in all provinces except Alberta, where it grew by three per cent. Ontario experienced the smallest enrolment drop, a three per cent decline, followed Manitoba with a six per cent decrease. Quebec, Saskatchewan, BC, PEI and New Brunswick saw enrolment fall by nine to 13 per cent, while in Nova Scotia it fell by 15 per cent and in Newfoundland by 22 per cent.
Population projections for school-aged children suggest that enrolment declines have reached their peak in many provinces and will begin to increase again in the medium term.
As more provincial governments adopt per-pupil funding formulas, declining enrolment means that school board revenues will either plateau or decline. The implementation of early childhood education programs for kindergarten and junior kindergarten students in four provinces (Newfoundland, PEI, Ontario and BC) has offset job losses related to declining enrolment.
In Ontario alone 3,500 new CUPE early childhood educator (ECE) positions have been created since 2010. However, the ECE positions being created are not all new jobs, but rather a shift of employment from the child care to the school board sector.
Given the average age of the membership in the sector, it is not surprising that pensions and post-retirement benefits are important to members.
Precarious work
Precarious work is increasing in many provinces as employers move to more casual and part-time positions that pay less and offer fewer health and pension benefits. The province of New Brunswick is looking to pay casuals 80 per cent of the standard wage. In BC, support staff are being forced to take an unpaid day as school districts move to a nine-day over two weeks schedule. Compounding the precarious work problem for some members are the federal government’s changes to Employment Insurance that tighten eligibility requirements for 10-month workers.
Privatization is occurring in some areas of the sector, such as busing, information technology, trades and maintenance. Shared services – the mergers of school boards’ administrative functions – are increasingly promoted by some provinces. In Ontario most of the 72 individual school boards are now part of a transportation consortium with a neighbouring board. The provincial government would like to expand shared services beyond transportation into IT and payroll, a change that would affect CUPE members.
So far, public-private partnerships (P3s) are not gaining a major foothold in the sector. But there is possible movement on the horizon. CUPE is anxiously watching Nova Scotia for the government’s decision on whether to renew P3 funding schemes or abandon the model for traditional funding arrangements. Saskatchewan is also currently considering P3 funding for school construction. There is good news from Alberta where the province abandoned its P3 school procurement policy in June. The government admitted that the business case for P3 schools just did not add up. This move represents a major victory for public ownership of schools.
Paul O’Donnell | CUPE Research
