Page Content
Kent Hehr is fiercely committed to equality of opportunity, one of the principles of public education. First elected to the Alberta legislature in the 2008 provincial general election, he was appointed education critic for the official opposition in 2011.
A graduate of the Calgary public school system, Hehr attended Mount Royal College before enrolling in the University of Calgary, graduating with a BA in Canadian studies and a LLB. He practiced law with Fraser Milner Casgrain for seven-plus years before then Liberal leader Kevin Taft encouraged him to seek the Liberal nomination in Calgary-Buffalo.
Hehr describes his transition to politics as a natural decision. His parents are teachers, and politics, especially the role of public education and public health care in creating equality of opportunity, was a central topic of discussion at the family dinner table. He describes the concept of public education as the overarching goal of an egalitarian society. Regardless of walk of life, everyone is welcome in the public education system, he says.
He does not mince words when it comes to explaining his caucus’s position on government funding for private schools, which, he says, separate children on the basis of religion, wealth and other characteristics. "We would say, ‘Cut it dry.’ If you don’t believe the public education system is for your children, that is your right but you pay for it yourself," he says. "Governments should be involved in things that move society forward in an approach that binds community, not divides it."
Early childhood education is another caucus priority. A Liberal government would implement full-day kindergarten and look at implementing junior kindergarten, particularly for students at risk. Research suggests that "when you use public dollars in the most pertinent fashion, it happens at the younger years," Hehr says.
A Liberal government would also discontinue Grade 3 and 6 provincial achievement tests, freeing up teachers not to teach to the test, and it would look seriously at Grade 9 achievement tests. He points out that in Finnish schools, which have no standardized tests, teachers are free to exercise their creativity.
Hehr says it is time to stop passing the buck to the federal government on the file of First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) education. A Liberal government would provide appropriate supports to FNMI students—both on and off reserve—to ensure their success. "If a school needs to be built on a reserve, if people need that support and their children need to succeed, we will do that," he says. "We have to do what’s best for our Aboriginal children, and that to me is getting people educated where the people are. … Children’s lives are too valuable to be blaming other levels of government."
He points out that ensuring stable, predictable and adequate funding requires a commitment from taxpayers that public education is a worthwhile initiative. When it comes to "valuable services like public health care and public education, it’s my view that citizens are more than willing to see their value and to contribute to the public purse to see these institutions not only survive but thrive," he says.
At the same time, Hehr acknowledges that Alberta cannot build its education system on the basis of the booms and busts of the economic cycle. To that end, a Liberal government would reexamine the province’s tax structure, the lowest in Canada. If Alberta were to adopt British Columbia’s tax structure, the second lowest in Canada, it would bring in an extra $11 billion a year, he says. A Liberal government would also re-examine the flat tax, which, he suggests, destabilizes government revenues at the wrong times. A progressive income tax structure would ensure more predictable and sustainable funding for education and health care and the ability to save "when the good times come again."
Hehr sums up his vision for the public education system. "Our public education system will be the best-performing public education system in the world. We will free up teachers not to have to teach to a test, to use their education, to use their creative powers, to tap into students’ passions and to spur on their passions to whatever it is they want to learn about. The key to a 21st-century learner is the ability to learn a multitude of different things, and teaching to the test narrows the constructs of what the classroom dynamic can be. I believe Alberta teachers are able to rise to that challenge."
