The Composition of Council
Although the composition of the Council has varied throughout the history of the STF, the goal has always been to make it as representative as possible of the Saskatchewan teaching force. To do this, The Teachers’ Federation Act, 2006 has given the STF the power to create local associations from which the members of the Council are elected by teachers. Most local associations are based in geographic regions that parallel the province’s division into school divisions. In this way the teachers in each area of the province have an opportunity to elect colleagues to represent them in debates and decisions at Council. There are currently 23 geographically based local associations within the STF. One of these, ALEF, the local representing teachers in francophone schools, is province-wide.
In addition, teachers have recognized that Council deliberations often have an impact on both superannuated teachers and teachers in training. The organizations representing these groups have been recognized as local associations so that they can elect representatives to Council that will bring forward their distinctive perspective and experiences for consideration. The Superannuated Teachers’ of Saskatchewan have been allocated eight councillors and the Education Students’ Societies at Saskatchewan’s two universities have each been allocated four councillors.