Release Date: 2010 06 17
A clearer picture of education in Alberta is now emerging as the province’s three largest school boards finalize their budgets for the upcoming school year, and that picture is ugly. In response, ATA President Carol Henderson is calling on minister of education Dave Hancock to reject school board budgets that cut teachers and support staff.
“Despite the minister of education’s earlier directive to school boards to maintain current staffing and class sizes, we are now projecting the loss of at least 500 teaching positions across the province unless immediate corrective action is taken,” says Henderson. In the last few days, the Edmonton Public School Board has announced the elimination of up to 212 teaching positions, while the Calgary Board of Education is anticipating the loss of 192 positions. Calgary Catholic Schools will cut 86 positions. “It is entirely reasonable to expect total losses will easily exceed 500 as other boards finalize their budgets, even though many boards are running deficits and drawing down their surpluses,” says Henderson.
Even if boards rely on natural attrition, rather than laying off teachers, to reduce the size of the teaching force, the cuts will still have a real impact on the quality of teaching and learning. “Come September, we will see increased class sizes and diminished programming,” says Henderson. “Those teachers new to the classroom who have probationary contracts of employment will be particularly hard hit, and they are the future of our profession.”
“It’s now clear that the solution originally advanced by the minister of education is just not working,” Henderson says. “While school boards may be willing to draw down their financial reserves, they are unwilling to actually go into debt to preserve jobs, programs and class size.” The ATA suggests that the situation can still be redeemed if boards are firmly directed to maintain staffing and if some additional funding is provided immediately.
“School boards appear to lack confidence in the provincial government’s promise that the necessary funding will be forthcoming in the near future and are unwilling to act, so we need the minister of education to state clearly that he will reject school board budget proposals that fail to maintain staffing and programs, even if it means a board has to go into debt,” says Henderson.
“We also need the provincial government to take steps to build confidence, including an infusion of cash before the start of school to relieve at least some of the pressure in the system and to demonstrate its commitment to restore full funding in the near future.”
For more information, contact Laura Harris at 780-447-9476 (Edmonton area),
1-800-232-7208 (toll-free in Alberta) or laura.harris@ata.ab.ca.
