Alberta’s public schools are still  reeling from the Klein cuts of  the early 1990’s. According to teachers, workloads are up and class sizes are getting unmanageable.

Every Albertan who has a school aged child knows about the increase in all sorts of school “fees” and the pressure on teachers and parents to conduct fund raising for things that used to be free (buy another chocolate-covered almond).

Yet the government claims that our public school system is second to none, and that funding is not the issue.

1. Are Schools Adequately Funded?

Actually, per pupil funding is still 3.8% below 1991 levels – despite three straight years of funding increases.

And, the current funding levels are deceptive. Keep in mind that there were years in the 1990’s when school boards had to try to cope with funding levels that were 10% lower than normal.

The consequences have been staff reductions at the level of education specialists like speech pathologists, educational psychologists, counselors, teaching assistants, librarians and reading specialists. The quality of education has suffered as beleaguered classroom teachers had to cope without needed support.

Custodial staff have also been reduced to save costs. The results – declining school infrastructures and a less safe environment for our children.

2. School Board Autonomy Undermined

At the same time the Klein government cut education spending, they took away local schools board’s traditional authority to set the school levy for property taxes.

School boards, some of which had operated independently and democratically in Alberta thirty years before there was a provincial government had their autonomy stripped and their traditional rights confiscated.

3. The Facts about Classroom Size

Alberta funds public schools at the fourth lowest rate in Canada – behind Quebec, Manitoba, BC, Ontario, and New Brunswick. This despite having the largest budgetary surplus of any province.

Even worse, Alberta’s teachers have the largest classroom sizes in the country – a definite indicator of the quality of education.

Overworked teachers have had all of their in-school preparation and marking time taken away. This has forced every teacher to constantly contribute unpaid overtime in the evenings and on weekends to cope with workloads. Small wonder that record numbers of experienced, professional teachers are on stress leave.

4. Private Schools

The provincial government initiated, and then increased, per pupil grants to private schools. These schools – the vast majority of which are run by fundamentalist religious groups, are siphoning an increasing share of funds from the education budget.

The Higher Education Crisis

The Alberta Federation of Labour believes that only an informed electorate will keep our democracy healthy.
With big business dominating the mass media, it is essential that alternate, reliable information be available to working people -- so that they can cast their ballots in their own best interest. As part of the effort to provide that information, the AFL has put together this political action kit for union members. It contains fact sheets on key issues that each local can either distribute to members, schedule into regular meetings, or make use of in part or in whole as they see fit.