The Alberta Teachers’ Association

PHOTOS BY JOYCE SHERWIN

Delegates consider the fate of 178 resolutions

Had this year’s annual ­assembly been any more low-key, delegates could not have been blamed for curling up and napping. Aside from moves to amend amendments to an amendment, which resulted in the resolution being passed as originally written, this year’s ARA will be remembered as a bit of a yawner. But subdued does not mean unresponsive; teacher delegates considered more than 175 resolutions, approved the Association’s budget for 2012/13 and weighed delegates’ reasoned arguments for or against policies. When all was said and done, the 2012 version of ARA wrapped up Sunday, May 20, at 5:30 p.m., which saved delegates from having to return for a gruelling evening session and well ahead of Monday’s scheduled 1:00 p.m. end time.

Worthy of note are several additional resolutions presented after the publication of the Resolutions Bulletin (featured in the ATA News, March 27, 2012), which are featured here.

A call for stable education funding

Resolution 172 calls on the ATA to urge the provincial government to “ensure stable funding for education” that is “sufficient to cover increases in costs” and that is “not less than the annual increase in Alberta’s rate of inflation.” ATA Past President Frank Bruseker, in his presentation of Resolution 172 to delegates, said, “This year in the [provincial] budget, basically what the government has said: ‘We have decided to underfund education.’” The government’s minuscule budget increases are entirely insufficient and do not keep pace with predicted inflation rates, Bruseker said. “Wouldn’t it have been nice if [the government] had developed a spine and stood up and said ‘This isn’t enough, this isn’t good enough’—but they didn’t, so we need to do that.” Bruseker said the government deemed the Alberta Average Weekly Earnings (AAWE), which determined teachers’ salary increases during the five-year agreement with government, too rich. Bruseker took exception to the government’s view that teachers aren’t worth paying salaries attached to AAWE. “We are a noble, strong profession; we are the ones who build Alberta’s future and, damn it, we deserve to be paid what we’re worth.” Resolution 172 called for increases in education funding that are no less than the annual increase in inflation. “Let’s pay what teachers are worth,” concluded Bruseker. Jenny Regal, president of Calgary Public Teachers local, and Ed Butler, president of Edmonton Public Teachers local, called on all delegates to support Resolution 172, which passed unanimously.

Public education best provider of alternative programs

Resolution 173 steadfastly supports the ability of public, separate and francophone school authorities to provide alternative education programs. The resolution urges the government to refuse applications “for establishment or renewal of charter schools” if a “school authority commits to providing in the community” a similar program. Jason Schilling, district representative for South West, warned that a charter school could set up across the street from a publicly funded school and draw off students and thus funds from that school. “The Association believes public education is responsible to society through government, including publicly elected school boards, and that educational governance should continue to be provided by publicly elected trustees to the system,” Schilling said. The resolution passed unanimously.

PATs must go

If any topics can stir up emotions, then surely they relate to special education or provincial achievement tests (PATs). Resolution 174 calls for the elimination of Grade 3 and Grade 6 provincial achievement tests in favour of what Alison Redford, in her bid for leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, called “regular but sensitive measurements of ­academic performance and expected outcomes.” Delegates gave upsetting accounts of students in their schools unable to take, let alone finish, PATs because they have only just arrived in Canada and speak little or no English. Often references in the tests are entirely foreign to newly arrived immigrants, said Ray Buziak, president of Trumpeter Local. Buziak described the makeup of one of his classes: one student is from Kenya; two students are from India; three students are from the Philippines; and some students are transient children from dysfunctional families who are at risk and do not attend school regularly. The system does not fit these students, he said. Trena Parkyn, a teacher with the Lethbridge School District, echoed Buziak’s and other delegates’ concerns about PATs. An excerpt from Parkyn’s impassioned speech on why she supported Resolution 174 is featured in "Quotable Quotes": “Passionate about terminating PATs.”

A vote for early childhood education

Early childhood education is a building block to the future, said April Brown, president of the ATA’s Early Childhood Education Council. Early education and early intervention give ­children a leg up, she added. Resolution 175 calls on the government to “expedite the implementation of fully funded optional full-day kindergarten … delivered by certificated teachers.” Full-day kindergarten was a plank in Alison Redford’s education platform during her bid for leadership of the Alberta PC Party. Ed Butler, president of Edmonton Public Teachers, warned that action must be taken, as private kindergarten operators are creeping into the province. The resolution passed.

Teachers need time

Inclusion and increased use of technology are only two of the many factors contributing to teachers’ burgeoning workloads. The Association believes that reasonable limits must be imposed on teachers’ assignable and instructional time. Resolution 176 argues for creating conditions in which teachers have “sufficient time to undertake planning, lesson preparation, assessment, collaboration” and other ­activities that support instruction and student learning “within a reasonable working day.” Joanne Boissonneault, district representative for Calgary City, said “supplemental tasks have added to teachers’ workloads.” She added, “The work of teachers is complex; they need time to plan.” Jenny Regal, president of Calgary Public Teachers local, commented that “employers are out of touch with reality” when it comes to teachers’ daily workloads. Delegates passed Resolution 176.

Carried unanimously

Calgary Public’s resolutions 177 and 178 were carried unanimously by the assembly. Resolution 177 draws attention to the Calgary Board of Education’s development of documents and tools similar to individual program plans or inclusive education planning tools. The Calgary local expressed concern about insufficient time to “effectively develop, implement and monitor such documents and tools” and called upon the ATA to urge school boards “to reduce instructional time in order to provide teachers with sufficient time” to do so. The time needed for such documents and tools should come from reduced instructional time and not from teachers’ own time, the local said.

Resolution 178 calls for an evaluation of strategies employed by school authorities in identifying project priorities of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). Calgary Public teachers “have been stymied in figuring out how to counter senior administrators’ direction and directives,” explained the local. Consequently, teachers are concerned that their board and likely other school boards across Alberta are flouting the rules governing AISI.