Premier Danielle Smith has said the Alberta government will be taking a closer look at how the province’s school boards are allocating operating funds amid growing concerns from teachers about a lack of classroom support.During her Aug. 23 radio show appearance on Your Province, Your Premier with host Wayne Nelson, Smith said Alberta taxpayers are spending significant amounts per student but questioned whether those dollars are reaching classrooms.“When you look at public schools, we’re paying anywhere from $12,000 to $14,000 per student,” Smith said.“That should be enough to hire a teacher and an assistant for every classroom. We may just have to dig a little bit deeper to see if the money is going to the right place.”Smith noted that per-student funding figures can appear misleading, since students in homeschooling programs receive about $800 and those in private schools receive 70% of the operational grant, or roughly $5,300 per person. She said public schools receive much higher levels of support..MORGAN: It’s time to break up the Alberta Teacher’s Association.The premier compared the issue to her government’s review of Alberta Health Services (AHS), where she argued money was tied up in administration instead of patient care.“There was a heck of a lot more administration; there were a lot of people not seeing the eyeballs of patients,”Smith said.“I worry we have the same problem in school boards and that’s why we’re going to be asking for a bit more information and are going to dig a bit deeper on that. We want to make sure the money is getting to the classroom — I think that is everybody’s objective.“We respect our teachers, we value the work they do, and we want to address the real issues for them. Just focusing on the wage side is not going to get us there,” she said.At a Calgary press conference on Monday, Smith reiterated that the government is consulting with teachers on their concerns.“What we hear from teachers is the great frustration that they have with complexity in the classroom — and they may even have some aggressive kids in the classroom — but they don’t have an extra hand to assist them,” she said.The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has recently warned that unresolved issues around classroom conditions could heighten the risk of a teachers’ strike in the near future as schools across the province are set to resume next week..HILTON-O'BRIEN: Alberta’s teachers are striking – but against whom?.In June, teachers across the province voted in favour of a strike with just under 95% of ATA members in support of job action.They now have until Oct. 7 to initiate a strike, and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), which does collective bargaining with K-12 teachers in Alberta, plans to vote on Friday about whether to lock out teachers.In a statement to CTV News, TEBA said it is working to finalize a deal with the ATA.“We have tremendous respect for teachers, principals, system leaders, and school divisions for their ongoing hard work inspiring and guiding students,” the statement read.Smith said she has talked with Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to begin asking more detailed questions of school boards about how money is being spent.“At the heart of this is the management of classrooms, which we have delegated to school boards," she said. "We have to be a bit more hands-on."
