Recall Nicolaides organizers target Alberta teacher advisory council members over UCP ties

The Recall Demetrios Nicolaides organizers, though failing in their attempt to recall the Alberta Minister of Education, are now attempting to purge members of Alberta's teacher advisory councils whose political views do not align with theirs.Posted on both Facebook and Instagram, under the "Recall Nicolaides" handle and "letstalkalbertaeducation," was a graphic asking its followers, "Did you know?"They then proceed to suggest the advisory councils are biased because some of their members have UCP political affiliations, while their own organizers, including two tagged in the post, have worked directly with the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA).The post informs viewers the Teacher Advisory Council (TAC), which is comprised of teachers from different school districts in Alberta and provides directives to the minister regarding education policy, met on Tuesday.."And guess what?" it wrote."A member on each of the Education Minister's committees is running to be MLAs in the next election."In the subsequent photos, they list two prospective UCP MLA candidates, Kevin Van Lagen, and Danella Aichele who is considering running as a candidate in the next election. Van Lagen is on the Class Size and Complexity Cabinet Committee, which engages with Alberta school boards and other experts on complexity in the public education system.He is also the principal of Altario School, and is running as a UCP MLA candidate for Drumheller-Stettler..Aichele is on the TAC and is currently a teacher at the Rocky View School District."We are pretty sure [she is] UCP, based off her attending events with Danielle Smith and writing an article for Western Standard," the post speculated.Aichele spoke to the Western Standard about the post, published on Wednesday, stating, "I was made aware of a post from an anonymously run social media account, ‘letstalkalbertaeducation,’ which has a significant public following of over 18,000 followers.""The post publicly shared my name and photo and questioned my suitability for the role, citing my attendance at an event featuring the Premier and a past article I wrote for the Western Standard.".Aichele says her participation in the TAC does not have anything to do with her political affiliation, rather her credentials are what made her suitable for the position."I want to be clear that my perspective is grounded in both experience and training.""I hold a Master’s in Public Policy and have over a decade of experience teaching in public schools.""I believe strongly that teachers should have a voice in shaping education policy, and I am honoured to contribute in this capacity. It's unfortunate that this focus has been overshadowed," she added.."Instead, the way this was shared and characterized feels more like targeted, political criticism that borders on online bullying, rather than a constructive discussion about qualifications or ideas."Aichele stated this defeats the purpose of the council, which is meant to "provide thoughtful, constructive input, not to advance partisan narratives.""It is disappointing to see public discourse framed in a way that discourages balanced and respectful dialogue, especially from an account that claims to care about the quality and substance of public education," Aichele concluded. The post also tagged four other accounts, two of which were teachers who had also worked directly for the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA)..One, Jay Procktor, an Edmonton Public school teacher, and a District Representative for Edmonton-McMurray, for the ATA's Provincial Executive Council (PEC), which creates and sets policy for the union.Another, Peter Mackay, is a teacher in Grande Prairie Catholic School District and was previously the ATA's lead negotiator on its Central Table Bargaining Committee, and resigned from the position back in September.Although the ATA claims to be itself "nonpartisan," according to their own website, they also claim to "advocate for issues of importance to teachers and students" which "includes political advocacy."

Recall Nicolaides organizers target Alberta teacher advisory council members over UCP ties

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