The Alberta Teachers’ Association

The budget proposed by Provincial Executive Council (PEC) is just a step away from becoming the approved budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year. The final (and very important) step in this process is membership approval. On the Victoria Day long weekend, local delegates to the 102nd Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) will gather in Edmonton to consider, among other matters, the approval of the proposed budget.

While a budget is often viewed primarily as a financial document, the budget of the Alberta Teachers’ Association is also a reflection of the Association’s activities, programs and priorities for the upcoming year. During budget deliberations, PEC makes critical choices, balancing financial considerations and member feedback, before then presenting the proposed budget at ARA to delegates. At ARA, delegates, in addition to assessing the financial implications, will also examine the merit of the proposed programs and consider their value to members, to education and to the Association.

Based on feedback from locals demonstrating considerable support for the programs and services proposed, Council is recommending a fee increase of $15 to the annual Association fee of $1,242, resulting in a fee of $1,257 for the 2019/20 fiscal year. The following pages provide highlights of new programs and completed or discontinued programs that make up the proposed 2019/20 budget.

Overview of proposed 2019/20 new initiatives

Program of support to school leaders — Professional Development

The draft budget proposes providing a program of support for school leaders and member teachers with jurisdiction-level ­assignments to enhance their capacity in instructional supervision to work effectively and collaboratively with teachers, while fulfilling their roles as defined in the School Act and related regulations.

Women’s symposium — Professional Development

The Women in Leadership Subcommittee of the Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Committee has been charged with undertaking a needs assessment on the status of women in leadership in Alberta and with developing a project plan based on the results of the research. A women in leadership symposium would begin to address the challenges outlined in the needs assessment. The symposium would offer sessions to develop skills such as networking and public speaking to assist women who are in or who are seeking leadership roles. This symposium would be critical to providing opportunities for networking and professional growth for members.

Professional staff FTE — Member Services

This role will help manage discipline processes and support related executive staff and committee work. This increase in the Association’s capacity is necessary to ensure that the Association can meet legislated requirements and provide timely investigation, hearing and reporting related to the professional conduct and practice review processes.

Teacher safety in schools — Member Services

As part of the 2018/19 Committee on Aggression in Schools and Communities mandate, recommendations will be made to address the growing problem of violence and threats targeted at teachers. The proposed budget includes provisions that will result from those recommendations to provide support to school leaders to enhance their capacity to ensure that the occupational health and safety of staff is addressed and to monitor the implementation of the new occupational health and safety legislation.

Status of women committee — Government

It is imperative that the Association move to be more reflective of the population served and to offer support for female teachers who would like to move into leadership roles in the Association and throughout the sector. Establishing this committee would help the Association build capacity among female members and enhance the Association’s reputation as an agile and resilient learning ­organization that builds member commitment.

Governance review — Government

A governance review was launched in 2018/19 to define governance roles and key functions of Council and senior administration. Once this review is complete, it will be necessary to evaluate, prioritize and implement recommendations emerging from the review. The goal will be to improve representation and decision making and review resources and processes so that the Association will be able to mobilize quickly to take advantage of opportunities, to respond to threats and to effectively manage risk.

Professional Staff 0.3 FTE — Government

A 0.3 FTE increase to the staffing complement for the translator position, currently at 0.7 FTE, will assist in providing translation and editing services to all program areas as needed and providing further capacity to assist and support professional discipline processes.

Research — Government

The introduction of the revised Teaching Quality Standard and Leadership Quality Standard creates a unique opportunity and requirement to undertake a research study focused on teachers’ experiences with the implementation of the standards. This research over two years will inform the Association’s advocacy on behalf of teachers and school leaders by documenting the impact of the standards on teaching practices, leadership practices, school culture, educational development across the system and collegiality within the profession.

Professional Staff 0.5 FTE — Operations

Design standards and expectations have increased, so the proposed budget includes funding to increase the current graphic design staffing complement by 0.5 FTE to reduce ongoing production backlogs and allow for more timely service to program areas and subgroups.

The proposed budget for the activities described above is $320,000.

Completed/discontinued initiatives

A number of programs will be completed or discontinued at the end of 2018/19 and therefore do not form part of the proposed ­budget for 2019/20. These programs include the Committee on Understanding Aggression, the Blue Ribbon Panel Review, the Education ­Program for Central Office Teachers, the 100th Anniversary Celebration and support of 2Learn.ca.

The budget allocated for these programs in 2018/19 was $181,000.

Proposed annual fee for 2019/20

Provincial Executive Council is proposing a $15 increase to the Association member fee for 2018/19, bringing it to $1,257 per member for 2019/20.

Budget by program area

There are two parts to the Association’s budget. The first part includes programs funded by a fee that is subject to a local rebate. In other words, for each dollar of the membership fee that is applied to this part of the budget, 20 per cent is rebated to local associations to fund their operations. The second part includes programs funded by a fee that is not subject to the local rebate.

Part 1: Budget subject to local rebate

The table below compares program area expenditures for the 2018/19 approved budget and the 2019/20 proposed budget. It also ­provides a general description of the mandate of each program area.

Part 2: Budget not subject to local rebate

Member fees required to fund the second part of the budget are not subject to the local rebate, and 100 per cent of these fees are available to fund provincial Association programs. The table below compares expenditures and allocations for the 2018/19 approved budget and the 2019/20 proposed budget, and provides a brief description of the nature of the expenditures.