The Alberta government said the $1.2 billion being spent on school boards over the next three years through Budget 2024 is intended to assist 33,000 students in the 2024-2025 school year. “School authorities can use this funding to hire additional teachers and classroom support staff in order to help manage class sizes and help manage the growing numbers of students,” said Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides at a Wednesday press conference. “This funding is also expected to support the hiring of 3,100 teachers, educational assistants, and support staff over the next three years.” At the same time, Nicolaides said the government will support enrolment going beyond original projections as best as possible. He said the Supplemental Enrolment Growth Grant will continue to be available in the 2024-2025 school year. This money will become available to eligible school authorities in the fall once the government has determined their final enrolment numbers for the 2024-2025 school year. To support specialized learning needs, he said it will spend $1.5 billion. He said the Classroom Complexity Grant (CCG) will receive $43 million to support diverse student needs.School authorities can use the CCG to hire more educational assistants or increase their hours; provide more training opportunities for staff; hire specialists such as counsellors, psychologists and speech language pathologists; and bring in more teachers. He said school authorities will be better equipped to deal with students with special needs. Other grants that will be funded by the $1.5 billion will be the Specialized Learning Support Grant; the English as an Additional Language Grant; the Refugee Student Grant; the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Grant; the Socioeconomic Status Grant; the School Nutrition Grant; and Program Unit Funding (PUF). He said the government has enhanced accountability measures with PUF funding to try to better assist students with disabilities. It has increased PUF funding by $6 million and has allocated increases of $10 million in subsequent years. This spending will allow for two enrolment dates — one in September and another in February — which will ensure students with disabilities can access educational services throughout the year. Due to this increase, parents of vulnerable students will have more opportunities to apply for spaces and programs. In closing, Nicolaides said he is “confident that by working together with our school authorities and by empowering them to hire more teachers and add more classroom supports, the investments Alberta’s government is making in Budget 2024 will indeed create a bright future for our children and our province.” Alberta United Conservative MLA Angela Pitt (Airdrie-East) said it is no secret there is no better place to work and raise a family than in Alberta. “We’ve seen an increasing number of people choosing to call Alberta home, and with that, we’ve seen significant pressures in our school system, in our hospitals and in our roads,” said Pitt. “Today’s announcement along with the capital announcement on March 1 of new schools in Airdrie and Rocky View County signifies our government’s commitment to support students through building new and modernized spaces for students and keeping up with enrolment pressures by increasing funding.” Pitt said it is welcoming for all students. However, she joked it was “less welcome for Jason Schilling and the ATA (Alberta Teachers’ Association), but I’m sure he could save some money by pulling those ads.” She made this comment because the ATA has launched an advertising campaign to highlight Alberta having the lowest funded public education system in Canada. “Despite having the richest economy in the country, Alberta has the poorest public education system,” said Schilling.“There is no excuse for this.”The ATA said it will be using television, radio, billboards, and print and online advertisements to raise awareness about the lack of funding on education. Over the last 15 years, student enrolment growth has outpaced teacher population increases by a two-to-one margin. Rocky View School Division (RVSD) Chair Fiona Gilbert said the increased enrolment is more than numbers. “These our kids,” said Gilbert. “These are Alberta’s future.” Gilbert called for Alberta’s children to receive a world-class education. Like other growing school divisions, she said RVSD needs space and funding to keep pace with increasing enrolments. Nicolaides followed up by saying teacher hiring is a responsibility for school boards. “We provide funding through a Base Operating Grant or Classroom Complexity Grant or other grants,” he said. “The school authorities have the flexibility to determine how to best allocate those funds.” He said with these funds, school boards can prioritize hiring additional teachers or recruit more educational assistants. They can hire who they see fit. The Alberta government said on Thursday Budget 2024 will help students by building and modernizing schools, adding learning supports for students and funding post-secondary programs to build a skilled workforce. READ MORE: ALBERTA BUDGET 2024: Billions to be spent enhancing schools, learning supports“The Alberta Advantage is back and booming and people from across Canada and around the world are once again flocking to our incredible province,” said Nicolaides. “This of course puts added pressures on our schools and our government is ready to help.”
The Alberta government said the $1.2 billion being spent on school boards over the next three years through Budget 2024 is intended to assist 33,000 students in the 2024-2025 school year. “School authorities can use this funding to hire additional teachers and classroom support staff in order to help manage class sizes and help manage the growing numbers of students,” said Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides at a Wednesday press conference. “This funding is also expected to support the hiring of 3,100 teachers, educational assistants, and support staff over the next three years.” At the same time, Nicolaides said the government will support enrolment going beyond original projections as best as possible. He said the Supplemental Enrolment Growth Grant will continue to be available in the 2024-2025 school year. This money will become available to eligible school authorities in the fall once the government has determined their final enrolment numbers for the 2024-2025 school year. To support specialized learning needs, he said it will spend $1.5 billion. He said the Classroom Complexity Grant (CCG) will receive $43 million to support diverse student needs.School authorities can use the CCG to hire more educational assistants or increase their hours; provide more training opportunities for staff; hire specialists such as counsellors, psychologists and speech language pathologists; and bring in more teachers. He said school authorities will be better equipped to deal with students with special needs. Other grants that will be funded by the $1.5 billion will be the Specialized Learning Support Grant; the English as an Additional Language Grant; the Refugee Student Grant; the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Grant; the Socioeconomic Status Grant; the School Nutrition Grant; and Program Unit Funding (PUF). He said the government has enhanced accountability measures with PUF funding to try to better assist students with disabilities. It has increased PUF funding by $6 million and has allocated increases of $10 million in subsequent years. This spending will allow for two enrolment dates — one in September and another in February — which will ensure students with disabilities can access educational services throughout the year. Due to this increase, parents of vulnerable students will have more opportunities to apply for spaces and programs. In closing, Nicolaides said he is “confident that by working together with our school authorities and by empowering them to hire more teachers and add more classroom supports, the investments Alberta’s government is making in Budget 2024 will indeed create a bright future for our children and our province.” Alberta United Conservative MLA Angela Pitt (Airdrie-East) said it is no secret there is no better place to work and raise a family than in Alberta. “We’ve seen an increasing number of people choosing to call Alberta home, and with that, we’ve seen significant pressures in our school system, in our hospitals and in our roads,” said Pitt. “Today’s announcement along with the capital announcement on March 1 of new schools in Airdrie and Rocky View County signifies our government’s commitment to support students through building new and modernized spaces for students and keeping up with enrolment pressures by increasing funding.” Pitt said it is welcoming for all students. However, she joked it was “less welcome for Jason Schilling and the ATA (Alberta Teachers’ Association), but I’m sure he could save some money by pulling those ads.” She made this comment because the ATA has launched an advertising campaign to highlight Alberta having the lowest funded public education system in Canada. “Despite having the richest economy in the country, Alberta has the poorest public education system,” said Schilling.“There is no excuse for this.”The ATA said it will be using television, radio, billboards, and print and online advertisements to raise awareness about the lack of funding on education. Over the last 15 years, student enrolment growth has outpaced teacher population increases by a two-to-one margin. Rocky View School Division (RVSD) Chair Fiona Gilbert said the increased enrolment is more than numbers. “These our kids,” said Gilbert. “These are Alberta’s future.” Gilbert called for Alberta’s children to receive a world-class education. Like other growing school divisions, she said RVSD needs space and funding to keep pace with increasing enrolments. Nicolaides followed up by saying teacher hiring is a responsibility for school boards. “We provide funding through a Base Operating Grant or Classroom Complexity Grant or other grants,” he said. “The school authorities have the flexibility to determine how to best allocate those funds.” He said with these funds, school boards can prioritize hiring additional teachers or recruit more educational assistants. They can hire who they see fit. The Alberta government said on Thursday Budget 2024 will help students by building and modernizing schools, adding learning supports for students and funding post-secondary programs to build a skilled workforce. READ MORE: ALBERTA BUDGET 2024: Billions to be spent enhancing schools, learning supports“The Alberta Advantage is back and booming and people from across Canada and around the world are once again flocking to our incredible province,” said Nicolaides. “This of course puts added pressures on our schools and our government is ready to help.”
