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Let’s recap the timeline from last month.
Dec. 8, 2:57 a.m. (technically Dec. 7 on the legislature calendar)
The house adjourns after passing controversial Bill 81, which would dramatically inhibit the ability of some groups, including the ATA, to speak out against government decisions. Three government MLAs break ranks and vote against third reading of the bill.
Dec. 9, early morning
An article appears online announcing that Education Minister Adriana LaGrange plans to remove professional discipline functions from the ATA. A 9:33 a.m. news release from LaGrange confirms the news story, stating that she has directed staff to draft legislation for the spring.
Dec. 13, 1:17 p.m.
LaGrange announces that changes are being made to the controversial draft K–6 curriculum, but that implementation will proceed in September for English language arts, mathematics, and physical education and wellness, which remain largely unchanged.
Dec. 15, 5:03 p.m.
The government releases a number of orders in council (cabinet decisions) that include new requirements for the ATA to report teacher discipline complaints to the minister and regulations for Bill 32, a union-busting bill passed in the summer of 2020.
While the minister wants people to believe that her attack on the Association over professional discipline is simply a reaction to a specific case, it is clear that it is actually a politically motivated attack designed to punish those who dare to speak out against her.
It was no coincidence that these major developments on items of critical importance to the ATA and the teaching profession were stacked together for release all within days of each other.
It is no coincidence that responding to these developments will require the Association to devote significant energy, attention, resources and work hours from staff and leaders — work that will occupy time and energy into the next three months and beyond.
Nope, that was all planned. These items and their strategic release are intended to inundate and overwhelm the Association in order to impede our ability to represent and advance the interests of teachers.
Now, consider this aspect of the timeline.
On Dec. 15, 2022, Alberta reported just over 4,000 active cases of COVID-19. As I write this, Alberta is reporting nearly 40,000 active cases (a record high), with untold more cases existing unverified by PCR testing. Positivity was at four per cent then and is at 37 per cent now.
Rather than take advantage of the input and influence of teachers and the Association to battle Covid, the government has specifically chosen to distract us with their other ideological and politically motivated interests.
Rather than allow teachers to focus on two primary things: the safety of schools and the education of students, the government wants to distract, divide and debilitate the profession.
I am struck by the notion that the premier is actually using this attack on teachers and unions as a way to shore up an extremist base that he will use to pass his upcoming leadership review. It’s cynical yet entirely plausible.
Now we have a teaching profession, and frankly a government, that is distracted from something that should be its sole priority right now: fighting COVID-19, including the safe operation of schools.
The truth is we would have a much better, safer response on the matter of Covid in schools if everyone was vigilant and focused on managing it. It would be better if we had all parties working together and collaborating on this issue. But that is not how this government seems to operate.
Just like when they picked fights with doctors and nurses at the start of the pandemic, they can’t seem to help themselves from approaching issues in ways that are divisive and destructive rather than collaborative and constructive. That isn’t what leadership looks like.
It is time that the government stops getting distracted from Covid and its risks to individual and collective health and safety. It is time for the government to stop distracting teachers and the system’s education partners from this goal and from the fundamentals of delivering strong public education.
It is time to fight Covid, not teachers. ❚
I welcome your comments. Contact me at jonathan.teghtmeyer@ata.ab.ca.
