They call themselves the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) but let’s not beat around the bush. They are a union. The ATA takes mandatory dues from teachers, does collective bargaining on behalf of teachers, and has the ability to initiate labour actions including strikes. That makes the ATA a trade union by every definition. The fact that they hide from that definition illustrates the disingenuous nature of their organization..The authority and reach of the ATA are far too wide. They have acted under multiple guises and it has put the safety of students at risk. The ATA pretends to be little more than a governing body for the profession of teaching much like many other professional organizations. It is through that role that the ATA has assumed the responsibility for the investigation and adjudication of teacher misconduct. As a union, the ATA can’t effectively act as the organization in charge of teacher discipline. It is an obvious conflict of interest..There have been numerous cases of serious teacher misconduct earning weak disciplinary followup in hearings conducted by the ATA. Over the years, provincial education ministers have repeatedly had to intervene and impose stronger sanctions in cases of teacher misconduct..Due to a class-action lawsuit filed against the Calgary Board of Education on behalf of students allegedly sexually assaulted by teacher, Michael Gregory, the ATA conflict of interest in disciplinary issues has been brought into the spotlight. The ATA investigated the actions of Gregory, concluded that he had assaulted students, and recommended a suspension of his teaching certificate. Despite being aware of the criminal nature of Gregory’s actions, the ATA chose not to report it to the police..When ATA representative Jonathan Teghtmeyer said the ATA is not under any obligation to report any potential criminal behaviour of teachers to the police, citizens were aghast. Have they no sense of responsibility towards the safety of the children at all? Do they really need to have it laid out in written terms why it may be important to report knowledge of potential child sex abuse to the police? The ATA feels that they shouldn’t have to..Education Minister Adriana LaGrange felt compelled to act and she has vowed to take responsibility for investigating and adjudicating teacher misconduct issues out of the hands of the ATA. Not an unreasonable move by any means..The reaction from the teachers‘ union was swift, explosive, and predictable..ATA president Jason Schilling is accusing LaGrange of wanting to dismantle Alberta’s teaching profession. Is this just heated rhetoric on Schilling’s part or is he really incapable of distinguishing the interests of his union from the teaching profession as a whole? I am thinking it’s a bit of both..Schilling then made this galling statement regarding the case of Michael Gregory “As a result of our processes, this teacher was removed from the profession and never taught again.”.Yes indeed, Gregory never did teach again after the ATA offered a short suspension to his teaching certificate. What Schilling neglected to mention though was that Gregory killed himself after being criminally charged with sexually assaulting his students. Schilling’s effort to take credit for ending the teaching career of a man who ended it through suicide is nothing less than vile..The teaching profession will lose nothing in having the ATA removed from its role as a disciplinary body. If anything, Albertans will feel more comfortable entrusting their children to public schools in the knowledge that an independent body will be looking out for the safety of their children rather than a self-serving union. Trust in the profession will grow..The only teachers who would be upset with the ATA not running disciplinary hearings are teachers who feel they may be facing one..The ATA is furious about losing authority in an area that they never should have had in the first place..Now we have to wait and see how much damage the ATA is willing to impose upon the education of our kids in hopes of retaining their role as the disciplinary body in cases of teacher misconduct..If the language of Schilling is to be believed, the ATA may be planning some job action over this. From the ATA release: “Schilling is calling for teachers to prepare for a vigilant defense of public education like they have not seen before.”.What does this mean? Rotating strikes? Work to rule actions? A full strike?.Any of those actions will harm the education of children who have already had their education repeatedly disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions. Students don’t need their education derailed further over an ATA tantrum over losing some authority that it never should have had..The only ones who can defuse this situation are teachers themselves. They need to speak out against their union on this one. A protracted battle over this issue will only harm kids and breach trust between parents and teachers..Even after LaGrange reforms to the disciplinary structure, the ATA will still be able to maintain its odd hybrid role as a union and professional association. They need to let this one go. They won’t win this battle but could do some terrible collateral damage in waging it..Cory Morgan is Assistant Opinion & Broadcast Editor for the Western Standard.cmorgan@westernstandardonline.com
