The Alberta Teachers’ Association

JOYCE SHERWIN

A teacher’s annual fee set at $1,224

Delegates to the 95th Annual Representative Assembly approved a program budget and an annual fee that will guide Association activity for the upcoming 2012/13 fiscal year.

Delegates were presented with a proposed budget that predicted a deficit of $670,900, based on the current fee of $1,194.

After a year (2011/12) of significant cuts to program areas, the 2012/13 budget allows for the reinstatement of committee meetings and provides for a five-day Summer Conference program to enhance training and development for local representatives.

The approved budget for 2012/13 includes four new programs. The first is a pilot study with a partnering school jurisdiction to address factors that contribute to increased teacher workload. The program will involve three projects (one each at the elementary, junior and senior high levels) that will develop innovative strategies to address curriculum overload and excessive requirements to report student performance.

The second initiative in the budget provides for the implementation of forthcoming recommendations from the Committee on First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) Education Policy and Action Plan related to professional supports for teachers working with FNMI students.

Furthermore, ARA representatives approved a resolution supporting the diverse needs of teachers and students in ­sponsoring a spring conference for Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Committee members, as well as a resolution to establish a committee to conduct a review of Summer Conference.

The total cost of these new programs is $94,400, which will be partially offset by the conclusion or elimination of five existing programs during the current fiscal year.

At the conclusion of a relatively short but productive budget debate, delegates approved an annual fee of $1,224, an increase of $30, or 2.5 per cent, for each full-time active member in order to balance the budget. The fee for associate members, which is 15 per cent of the full-time fee, was set at $183.60 per year.