Alberta Teachers’ Association calls for action as education spending lags behind

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has expanded its Stop the Excuses campaign to focus on the government spending the least on public education per student in Canada. The provincewide ads feature Albertans from all backgrounds expressing their surprise at Alberta spending the least per student. The ATA said this chronic underfunding has left Alberta’s schools and students in dire need, creating a crisis in the public education system.“Albertans understand the value of public education, so it should be a concern that while the province touts a surplus, students are not seeing any of the benefits,” said ATA President Jason Schilling in a press release. “Their quality of education is suffering.”One of the ads shows people expressing concern over Alberta spending the least on public education. “The least,” said one woman..A teacher pointed out Alberta spends the least on public education in Canada. “This neglect has left our schools and students in dire need of support,” said the teacher. “Public education is in crisis in Alberta.” The ATA said back to school means another year of overcrowded classrooms, unmet student needs, decreased support for students with complex learning needs, and a lack of learning resources. “Teachers are facing conditions that are not fair or sustainable,” said Schilling.“We cannot expect them to do more with less again and again.”In response, the ATA said the time to act is now. This is because the future of Alberta’s students demands it. To address the lack of funding, it called on people to contact their MLAs and ask why Alberta spends the least per student in Canada. It added spending more money on education is the least the Alberta government can do. Schilling concluded by saying public education is in crisis. “This chronic underfunding of public education will be the legacy of this Premier and government,” he said. Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides responded by saying the government is engaging in record spending in education to accommodate enrolment growth and ensure students have the supports they need to succeed. “Over the next three years, we are investing more than $1.2 billion to address classroom complexity and enrollment growth by hiring over 3,000 more teachers and other educational staff,” said Nicolaides. “We are also making sure that no student falls through the cracks by enhancing literacy and numeracy screening for our youngest students and investing $1.5 billion to support students across all grades by connecting them to the specialized supports they need to succeed.”Since 2019, the Alberta government has committed to 108 school projects across the province to add more than 83,000 new and modernized student spaces. In addition to the school projects, it has spent money on the relocation of 31 modular classrooms and 180 new ones across Alberta this upcoming school year to create more than 5,200 student spaces in high-growth communities.Statistics Canada said in February operational expenditures by school boards in Alberta totalled $11,601 per student in the 2020-2021 school year, making it last in the country. The Canadian average was $13,332 per student.Statistics Canada reported the 2019-2020 school year saw Alberta fund students at $10,896 each, putting it in last place and far behind the Canadian average of $12,105.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.”

Alberta Teachers’ Association calls for action as education spending lags behind

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