The Alberta Teachers’ Association

ATA president Jason Schilling shares his thoughts on the lifting of masking restrictions, the current mood of teachers and issues facing the profession.

A Q&A with ATA president Jason Schilling

Much has happened on the Covid front since the ATA News was last published.

As anti-restriction demonstrations were unfolding in Ottawa and the Coutts border crossing in southern Alberta, the UCP government announced a plan to end Covid restrictions, including an end to mandatory masking for school children as of Feb. 14.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association responded with a statement urging the government to take “a more cautious approach.” Subsequent social media speculation about potential legal action led to videos being posted by Premier Jason Kenney and Education Minister Adriana LaGrange that directly attacked the ATA.

In his video, Kenney said teachers view their students as “vectors of viral transmission” and said it was time to let kids be kids. LaGrange said the ATA was contacting their lawyers and will “fight to keep masks on children.”

Anti-restriction demonstrations were also reported at various Alberta schools, including an incident during which demonstrators entered a school and were escorted out by police. Subsequently, some students in Calgary and Edmonton staged walkouts and demonstrations against the lifting of masking restrictions.

On Feb. 14 the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), joined a group of parents of students with disabilities in filing an application for a court injunction to stop the implementation of the order to remove the provincewide mask mandate in Alberta schools.

In recent weeks the ATA has received hundreds of calls from concerned members and members of the public, on both sides of the masking/restrictions issue.

With all these developments as the backdrop, the ATA News sat down with ATA president Jason Schilling for an update on the situation from the ATA’s perspective.

What do you make of the videos posted by the premier and education minister?

It’s important to clarify what we did say. What we did say was not what the premier and the minister said in their videos. They’re responsible for their own words because those were not words that were in our statement, nor were they words that I said in any statements afterwards, so that is completely up to them.

Is the ATA taking the government to court?

No. There are no plans to file a lawsuit. That’s a fabrication that was made up by the premier.

Is the ATA involved in the AFL’s application for a court injunction?

No, we are not.

What kind of feedback is the ATA receiving from members on the issue of Covid, masking, etc.?

It’s a mixed reaction from teachers. Some teachers are quite happy to be teaching their students without the use of masks in their classrooms, whereas other teachers are still worried and concerned about that.

We’re concerned about the safety level and just how quickly this decision was made, especially with the fact that the Association was not consulted in this decision. We represent people who’ve been working in classrooms day in and day out throughout the pandemic, and it would have been good for government to acknowledge that and seek the input of the Association about this decision.

Based on what you’re hearing, what is your sense of what teachers want?

Teachers want to get back to whatever normal is going to be. We want to be in schools working with our students. Some are super happy that the masks are going to be gone, but some are concerned because they don’t want it to be too quick of a decision.

We don’t want to go back to square one like we were at the beginning of the pandemic. We want to get out of this roller coaster year that we’ve had so far, and so if we move too quickly, I don’t want to see us revert back.

How concerned are you that the focus on masks and Covid may be taking attention away from other challenges the ATA is facing?

There’s concern there because there are a lot of other challenges that are still related to Covid. We’re dealing with (disruptions to learning). We know that there’s a lot of concerns about student and staff mental health and well-being. 

We also need to address the issues that are still remaining around curriculum, around collective bargaining and the potential removal of the disciplinary function from the Association. There’s a lot going on. We can’t get distracted by wedges that are out there that are trying to divide us. 

In your mind, what is the most significant issue the ATA is currently facing?

There’s a lot that we’re dealing with all at the same time. One of the things, when I reflect back on the year, is that we see a lot of deprofessionalization of the profession and an undermining of public education as a whole, so the Covid response, the curriculum … removing the disciplinary function from the Association, plus we have a budget that’s coming up at the end of this month that we’ve not heard much about. I’ll be curious to see what kind of funding we have for our schools.

What is your message to teachers right now?

Teachers are working extremely hard in challenging times. They’re there day in and day out working with kids through a pandemic, keeping an education system afloat, but we also need to be aware and engaged with the issues that face education and then all work together to try to find resolutions that are better for our profession and better for our students. 

We need to do that work together and not let things like what we saw last week around the masking decision distract or divide us, or put wedges between us and the public or between us as teachers. We need to recognize that for what it is, see past it and keep our eye focused on the things that we care about and that we value. ❚ 

Responses have been edited for clarity.