The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Over 99 per cent of teachers now benefit from caps on teacher instructional time

The proposal for a cap was originally set out in the government’s March 2013 offer for a four-year framework agreement and subsequently incorporated into the Assurance for Students Act (2013) and related Ministerial Order #033/2013. Under the terms of the ministerial order, teachers’ instructional time beginning in 2014/15 would be limited to a maximum of 907 hours per year in those jurisdictions where limits on teacher instructional time did not already exist. Provisions were made for automatic exceptions in schools where 4 per cent year-over-year reductions had been achieved, even if the 907 hours standard was not yet being met.

As well, a school jurisdiction could apply on a school-by-school basis for exceptions if it could be demonstrated that meeting the 907-hour standard could not be reasonably achieved. Requests for exceptions were heard by a three-member Exceptions Committee consisting of a chair and two nominees, one named by the Alberta School Boards Association and one by the ­Alberta Teachers’ Association. Nine school jurisdictions took advantage of this opportunity and requested exceptions for 75 schools for the 2014/15 school year. Mostly, the requests concerned smaller rural and Hutterite colony schools. The exceptions committee approved 31 of the 75 applications for exceptions for 2014/15:

• Battle River—3 schools
• Golden Hills—18 schools
• Grasslands—7 schools
• Horizon—2 schools
• Wetaskiwin—5 schools
• Northern Gateway—1 school (with an expectation that teachers’ instructional time be reduced by five minutes per day)

Other requests were denied:

• Horizon—18 colony schools
• Livingstone Range—12 colony schools
• Peace Wapiti—7 colony schools

East Central submitted but then withdrew its request for an exception. The Exceptions Committee requested further information on one school in Wetaskiwin.

Although strongly opposed, initially by the minister of education and consistently by school boards, the introduction of an instructional time cap was a priority for teachers and absolutely essential if an offer including a multi-year salary freeze were to be remotely acceptable. Obtaining the cap marked a milestone for teachers, benefiting particularly those in rural jurisdictions who had never before succeeded in obtaining limits on teacher time through the collective bargaining process. There remained concerns, though, that school boards would aggressively pursue large numbers of exemption requests.

As it turned out, once confronted with the reality that a 907-hour cap was the expectation set out in legislation, the vast majority of the 61 school boards and almost 2,000 schools were able to comply. As a result, caps on teacher instructional time are now in place in 98.5 per cent of the province’s schools and for more than 99.5 per cent of the province’s teachers. What was previously the exception is now the rule.

Association staff will continue to analyze the decisions handed down and consult with the Exceptions Committee to better understand the reasons that exceptions were granted so as to inform the Association’s response to any requests for exceptions that might be forthcoming in future years.

As well, staff are investigating the possibility that in some jurisdictions teachers may have been pressured to accept assignments over the 907-hour cap. Should such allegations be substantiated, the Association will explore potential avenues for dealing with the school jurisdictions concerned. The Association and its bargaining units will continue to monitor and enforce compliance with the 907-hour cap. In schools where exceptions were granted, the Association will guard against attempts to increase teacher instructional time and encourage efforts to provide alternative forms of relief to teachers required to provide instruction above the 907-hour level.