Reporting
Reporting Council Decisions on Resolutions
The decision of Council on each resolution and notice of motion is recorded and filed as part of the proceedings of Council. Based on this record, a report on the resolutions and notices of motion passed at Council is included in the next edition of the Saskatchewan Bulletin, which is distributed to STF members, superannuated teachers, associate members, other teacher organizations and educational partners. Defeated resolutions are not reported and are now regarded as if they had never been brought forward. The Bulletin staff generally groups the resolutions that Council has adopted under headings such as: Provincial Bargaining Resolutions, Resolutions 70% For, Resolutions to the Floor of Council, Notices of Motion, Emergent Resolutions, Resolutions Referred to the Executive and Resolutions Tabled. Feature stories may be provided on major issues that were raised, debated and decided through the resolutions.
A report on the resolutions and notices of motion passed at Council is also made available to the public on the STF website.
Councillors may regard the reports in the Bulletin and on the website as accurate, definitive accounts of Council’s decision on each resolution and notice of motion. You are encouraged to use these accounts in reporting on Council to your local and the teachers you represent.
In its role as the voice of Saskatchewan teachers, the STF also communicates the resolutions of Council formally to the Government of Saskatchewan through its annual Brief to the provincial ministry responsible for PreK-12 education. In addition to raising issues and ideas of concern to Saskatchewan teachers, the brief includes all resolutions and new policies adopted at Council, bringing them forward for discussion in a face-to-face meeting between the provincial Executive and the Minister and senior Department officials. The brief is also communicated in meetings with major Opposition parties in Saskatchewan. The resolutions are presented to politicians and policy-makers as an opportunity to hear directly from teachers on a wide range of educational issues, large and small, that deserve their attention. The Brief to the Minister is always followed up informally by the members of the provincial Executive and the Administrative Staff in committee meetings and individual contacts with government officials throughout the year.
Progress Report on Council Resolutions
In December you will receive a document entitled Council Resolutions Progress Report. This Report is intended to update you on actions and plans with respect to the resolutions and policies approved by Council at Special and Annual Meetings in the previous year.
Immediately after Council, any resolutions directed towards other organizations and agencies are communicated to them in writing. It is the custom of educational partners such as the provincial ministry responsible for PreK-12 education, CTF, LEADS and the SSBA to provide a written response to any resolutions that are forwarded to them. These responses are included with the resolutions in the Council Resolutions Progress Reportfor the information of councillors.
In addition, the Report provides information about the work of the provincial organization in implementing each resolution and policy passed by Council. Since in many cases this work is on-going, and since there is little time to develop and implement an adequate action plan between the April and October meetings of Council and the publication of theCouncil Resolutions Progress Report in December, the document will often describe plans still in development rather than fully implemented. For example, all that can usually be reported about a resolution that the STF negotiate a provision in the Provincial Collective Bargaining Agreement is the plan to incorporate it into Teachers’ Bargaining Proposals – the proposals may not be fully developed and approved in December and the outcome of bargaining on any proposal may not be known for many more months. In spite of such limitations, however, the Progress Report on Council Resolutions is intended to maintain the confidence of Council that the provincial Executive and Administrative Staff diligently follow up on each resolution in the months following Council, developing a planned response that is integrated with the overall STF Strategic Plan.
The Council Resolutions Progress Report reflects Council and the STF Strategic Plan in that it divides resolutions for reporting purposes into the function areas of the STF: Social and Political Advocacy, Professional Stewardship and Responsibility, Economic Services (including provincial bargaining and benefit plans) and Governance and Administration (including member services). Resolutions that fall under each heading are provided in full as they were numbered at the Council at which they were passed. With each resolution is given a response from the STF and/or an educational partner to which it was directed.