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The following media excerpts do not necessarily reflect the views of the ATA
Teachers take a hit, but so does government’s credibility
The government is moving back into debt—but won’t say it. To admit that would be to admit to yet another broken promise. Not only did the government fail to balance the overall budget, as Premier Alison Redford promised in last year’s election, it didn’t even balance the “operating” side of the budget, as she promised just a few months ago. Even the relatively good news has a bad side to it. If you accept $451 million as the true deficit, you have to realize an “operational” deficit is actually more serious than the old-style deficit that included all money in and out. An operational deficit means we’re no longer bringing in enough money to pay, for example, teachers and nurses. We haven’t had an operational deficit in Alberta in 20 years. … The government’s credibility, though, might face the largest cut of all.
—Graham Thomson, Edmonton Journal, March 8, 2013
Big growth, shrinking budget bad for boards, students and parents
The Edmonton Public School District’s almost-brand-new schools in southwest Edmonton, Johnny Bright and Esther Starkman, are full to overflowing. … And so, this week, the district announced a decision that has enraged hundreds of families. Next year, all Grade 8 and 9 students will be moved out of the new schools, sent instead to three south-side junior highs in mature neighbourhoods, all with excess capacity: Riverbend, Avalon, and D.S. MacKenzie. And all current students at Bright and Starkman who live outside the school boundaries or are officially registered as Catholic students, regardless of age, will have to leave. … Kids being forced out of the beautiful new schools they’d come to love are understandably upset. Parents are furious. They have every right to be. Yet, it’s hard to know what other choice the district could have made. … The board has asked the province for money for more schools. But so have boards in Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Airdrie and Calgary. With the Redford government in budget crisis, don’t expect new schools soon.
—Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal, March 6, 2013
Grande Prairie is feeling the pinch
From the time I started working at the [Daily Herald Tribune], I’ve heard about space issues in the school districts. I’ve seen those issues firsthand when I head out to cover an event at a school in the city. ... Both the public and catholic school districts have struggled to get help from the provincial government when it comes to space issues. When I was in elementary school in Edmonton, I can distinctly remember two portables in the school yard. They served as lunch rooms and in the evenings, I had dance classes in them. I can’t imagine what it would be like to shove a bunch of desks in there and try to make that a classroom. … In response to the province’s lack of action, parents in Grande Prairie are taking a stand and speaking out. An online petition (http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/alberta-education-minster-jeff-johnson-borrow-money-to-build-schools) targeted at Alberta Education Minister Jeff Johnson is gaining ground quickly. … We need more schools to accommodate our growing population, but also to continue to attract people to our region. Grande Prairie prides itself on being a thriving environment, the perfect place to raise a family. Well, we need the schools to complete that picture.
—Kirsten Goruk, Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune, March 5, 2013
