The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Nominations will soon open for all elected positions on Provincial Executive Council (PEC). Eligible to run and vote in the 2019 PEC election are active (teaching) and associate ATA members.

Details on the nomination and election processes will be mailed to schools (care of ATA school representatives) and available on our website when nominations officially open on December 3.

What the heck is PEC?

You can think of it this way: if the Alberta Teachers’ Association were a city, PEC would be similar to city council. It is an executive committee of 20 teachers responsible for directing the business of the Association. 

On PEC, there are five table officers (ATA president, two vice-presidents, past president and executive secretary) and 15 district representatives. The executive secretary serves as the Association’s chief executive officer and is responsible for the operations and staff of the Association. 

All positions, with the exception of the past president and executive secretary, are elected to office by ATA members every two years. 
PEC is also referred to as Council.

Members of PEC

• are teachers; 
• meet as a council two days at a time at least eight times each year; 
• serve on internal and external committees and Association subgroups, like specialist councils;
• engage in professional development as part of their duties; 
• make decisions affecting the budgets, policies and strategic direction of the ATA; and 
• are accountable to the ATA membership, i.e., you.

Note: The budgets and policies of the Association are voted on at its Annual Representative Assembly by more than 400 teacher delegates representing teachers employed by every public, separate and francophone school board in the province.

What PEC members do

There are differences in the responsibilities of elected PEC members depending on the office they hold.

ATA president
The ATA president works full time out of the ­Association’s Barnett House, in Edmonton. In addition to PEC responsibilities, he or she is also

• official spokesperson for the Alberta Teachers’ Association;
• chief representative of the Association in dealings with provincial and national education stakeholders, e.g., the Government of Alberta, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation;
• chair of the Provincial Executive Council;
• chair of the Teacher Salary Qualifications Board; and 
  an ongoing support to district representatives. 

ATA vice-presidents
Additional responsibilities of the two ATA vice-presidents include but are not limited to

• alternating months as deputy president and
• serving on committees and specifically chairing either the Association’s finance or resolutions committee.

District representatives
The 15 district representatives represent Alberta teachers in the 11 geographic districts of the Association and are responsible for

• presenting the views of individual teachers and the ATA locals in their geographic district,
• participating in Council decision making,
• familiarizing themselves with the activities of the ATA locals in their geographic district and
• communicating ATA policy and activities to teachers who are members of the ATA locals in their geographic districts. ❚