The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has denounced the government for providing 13 school boards with less funding than last year. At the moment, the ATA said schools in communities such as Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, and Okotoks will likely experience larger class sizes and program cuts when school starts in the fall because of these cuts. “There is no excuse in our growing, wealthy province to have funding cuts for public education,” said ATA President Jason Schilling in a Wednesday press release.“Year after year after year, school board funding has failed to keep up with inflation and enrolment growth and as a result, we now have the lowest per-pupil spending on education in all of Canada.”The ATA said the school division that will receive the largest funding cut by percentage is the Northland School Division (NSD) (-2.3%). This works out to $761,115 less in funding. After the NSD is the Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division (-2.2%). This was followed by the Aspen View School Division (-1.7%), the Medicine Hat School Division (-1.4%), and the Holy Family Catholic Separate School Division (-0.9%). Schilling said he has heard from teachers that many school boards will be laying them off at the end of the school year. The ATA pointed out these plans run contrary to Alberta government budget announcements heralding the hiring of 3,000 additional school staff over the next three years.He called the Weighted Moving Average “disastrous for education funding.”“We’ve had years of rapid enrolment growth and insufficient funding,” he said.“When adjusted for inflation, per-pupil education spending will be down 13% provincewide compared to 2019.”Schilling concluded by saying Alberta is 3,000 teaching positions behind where it was five years ago. “As a result of underfunding, class sizes have grown, programs have been cut and supports for students continue to erode,” he said. Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said some school divisions saw small reductions because of declining enrolment and lower COVID-19-related funding. “That being said, funding to education in Alberta is at record high levels, which will result in thousands of new teachers and dozens of new schools,” said Nicolaides.“This will support the record number of families moving to the province to be apart of the Alberta Advantage.”In 2023, Alberta’s population grew by 200,000 people, representing the largest annual increase in its history. Nicolaides said Albertans elected the Alberta United Conservative Party “to invest in the success of the education system, and we will do just that so generations to come can receive a world-class education.”The Alberta government said in February 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 Teachers’ Association (ATA) has denounced the government for providing 13 school boards with less funding than last year. At the moment, the ATA said schools in communities such as Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, and Okotoks will likely experience larger class sizes and program cuts when school starts in the fall because of these cuts. “There is no excuse in our growing, wealthy province to have funding cuts for public education,” said ATA President Jason Schilling in a Wednesday press release.“Year after year after year, school board funding has failed to keep up with inflation and enrolment growth and as a result, we now have the lowest per-pupil spending on education in all of Canada.”The ATA said the school division that will receive the largest funding cut by percentage is the Northland School Division (NSD) (-2.3%). This works out to $761,115 less in funding. After the NSD is the Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division (-2.2%). This was followed by the Aspen View School Division (-1.7%), the Medicine Hat School Division (-1.4%), and the Holy Family Catholic Separate School Division (-0.9%). Schilling said he has heard from teachers that many school boards will be laying them off at the end of the school year. The ATA pointed out these plans run contrary to Alberta government budget announcements heralding the hiring of 3,000 additional school staff over the next three years.He called the Weighted Moving Average “disastrous for education funding.”“We’ve had years of rapid enrolment growth and insufficient funding,” he said.“When adjusted for inflation, per-pupil education spending will be down 13% provincewide compared to 2019.”Schilling concluded by saying Alberta is 3,000 teaching positions behind where it was five years ago. “As a result of underfunding, class sizes have grown, programs have been cut and supports for students continue to erode,” he said. Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said some school divisions saw small reductions because of declining enrolment and lower COVID-19-related funding. “That being said, funding to education in Alberta is at record high levels, which will result in thousands of new teachers and dozens of new schools,” said Nicolaides.“This will support the record number of families moving to the province to be apart of the Alberta Advantage.”In 2023, Alberta’s population grew by 200,000 people, representing the largest annual increase in its history. Nicolaides said Albertans elected the Alberta United Conservative Party “to invest in the success of the education system, and we will do just that so generations to come can receive a world-class education.”The Alberta government said in February 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.”
