Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley said Premier Danielle Smith is not telling the truth about spending money on new schools. “Sixty thousand new students are expected in the city of Edmonton in the next decade, but Edmonton Public only had one new school approved for construction,” said Notley in a Monday speech in the Alberta Legislature. “Calgary expects close to 6,000 new students next year alone, but the Calgary Board of Education only got one new school approved for construction.” While Smith has celebrated opening new schools, Notley asked her if she believed parents “don’t know the difference between real investments and recycled announcements and why won’t she just do better.” Although Notley was critical of Smith not constructing enough schools, she responded by saying she was “doing a heck of a lot better than when (the NDP) were in.” “Zero schools were announced in the 2015 budget,” said Smith. “Zero schools in the 2016 budget.” The Alberta NDP started 46 school projects. However, the Alberta United Conservative Party has spent money on 141 of them. She said she would educate the NDP on the process, which includes planning, engineering and construction. Her government has spent money on 14 schools in Edmonton. Six of these schools are under construction, five are being designed and three have been planned. While Smith was proud of the Alberta government’s record on building schools, Notley said her answer was filled with lies. “It was ridiculous,” she said. “Now meanwhile she has never seen a bad news story she can’t polish up and sell to Albertans just like what she just did.” Under the Alberta UCP, she said education has not received proper funding. She asked why education was being treated with profound ambivalence. At the moment, Smith acknowledged the Alberta government has 98 projects in different stages. “We’re going to continue to keep up with growth,” she said. “We’re probably going to announce a whole lot more as well.” The Alberta government has increased spending on enrolment growth. Part of the funding change the UCP brought in was to protect schools with low enrolment, as Alberta experienced 13 quarters of negative growth from a lack of job opportunities because of NDP policies and people moved elsewhere. Now people are moving to Alberta. She vowed to continue to protect low enrolment boards and fund growth. While many people want Alberta to grow, Notley said the NDP is committed to ensuring its children succeed. “The future economic success of our province is rooted in the education we are giving to our kids,” she said. She questioned why Smith has taken Alberta from being one of the top funded provinces for per-pupil funding to among the lowest in Canada. Smith said she and Notley agreed on funding core services. “It’s why over the next three years we’re investing $2.1 billion to be able to build and modernize schools, construct modular classrooms, support the expansion of collegiate public charter schools in Alberta,” she said. In addition to maintaining supports for school boards with declining enrolment, she said it would have a funding model that will try to work for everyone. The Alberta government said on March 1 it will be spending $381 million in Budget 2024 to move 43 school projects forward. READ MORE: Alberta government to fund new schools in growing communities“Twenty-eight of these projects will be new schools in our fastest-growing communities,” said Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides. “Of the 35,000 new spaces that will be created under this plan, over 80% of those spaces will be in Calgary and Edmonton.”
