Guest Editorial

The fight isn't over yet

Bauni Mackay, ATA President

The provincial government is reinvesting money in education and in Alberta's children. While the reinvestment is far from adequate, we do know who should take credit for getting the government to reinvest any money in education.

In the December 16 Calgary Herald, columnist Don Braid writes: "Now the Alberta Teachers' Association will doubtless take credit for the provincial decision to spend more. But the union doesn't deserve it. The pressure that really counted came from parents, who were angry about class sizes, funding shortfalls in special education and escalating and uneven school fees."

Braid is right. The pressure that counted came from parents, and we're grateful that parents applied pressure. However, teachers can take credit for relentlessly keeping the spotlight on public education and on children. It is teachers who promote and pay for the "Public Education Works" program and who made the October 4 rally a success. It is teachers who support the Public Education Action Center, it is teachers who are informed of the social and economic implications of various government decisions, and it is teachers who tell their stories to parents, community members, MLAs, the minister of education and the premier. Teachers took a salary cutback so as not to divert attention from the threats to the continued high quality of Alberta's public education system. Above all, it is teachers who continue to meet the needs of their students and who provide them with an excellent education despite increasingly deteriorating conditions. Teachers have made their voices heard. We know that and so does everyone else, including Mr. Braid and his colleagues in the media.

However, we can't afford to be lulled into complacency by the promise of more money for education. The government's reinvestment of $137 million new dollars over the next three years is a far cry from the $536 million the ATA estimates is the minimum needed to heal the wounds created by the cuts to education funding. No doubt the money announced by government will heal a few of the wounds and persuade Albertans that the government has fulfilled the premier's promise following the Growth Summit that reinvestment in education will be the government's priority in the 1998 budget. However, this amount is not enough to undo the damage done or to allow the public education system to remain strong. There is no money targeted for teachers' salaries, which presents a major impediment to keeping teaching competitive with other professions in attracting the brightest and the best candidates.

Even though we know what is in store for public education in the upcoming budget, let's take time to thank parents and supporters of public education for urging our government to spend some money on education, but at the same time let's not be fooled into thinking that everything is fine. We must continue to keep public education and children in the forefront, and we must encourage more Albertans to continue exerting pressure on the government until we are certain that high quality public education will remain accessible to every child in the province. In the meantime, we can congratulate ourselves for a job well done. Teachers deserve credit for whatever good things there are in the education budget.