The Alberta Teachers’ Association

1. Your assistance with promoting it is invaluable.

The election of teachers to Provincial Executive Council (PEC) provides Alberta Teachers’ Association members an opportunity to have their say in who will represent them on important issues affecting teaching practice and public education in Alberta. School representatives, in their role as liaisons between the provincial Association and the members of its 55 voting locals, are critical to making sure teachers know not only that there is an election taking place, but that their votes matter to maintaining a strong, relevant and inspired teaching profession.

2.  There will be a campaign booth at all teachers’ conventions.

New to teachers’ convention floors this year is the addition of a campaign booth. Let your colleagues know that this booth is where they have the opportunity to inform their vote by meeting the teachers who are running in the 2017 PEC election.
Where will the campaign booth be located? Look for a combination of bright yellow, green and orange stand-up banners with the PEC election logo or ask anyone at the ATA convention booth.

3. Online voting instructions will be mailed to you on or about Feb. 28.

Voting, once again, will be conducted online for the election. To ensure all members are aware of how to go about voting for their candidate(s) of choice, the Association is sending to each school in the province a package containing one set of instructions to every teacher at that location. These packages will be addressed to the attention of the school representative, so keep an eye out for them!

4. Election resources are available on the Association website at www.teachers.ab.ca.

The Association website contains information on all aspects of the 2017 PEC election and even has a “Promote” section where school representatives and other ATA members interested in generating voter engagement can find shareable information and graphics at the ready for posting and tweeting.
Visit the www.teachers.ab.ca homepage and go to the Information On section to have 2017 PEC Election information at your fingertips.

5. Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated.

ATA president Mark Ramsankar was successful in his bid to become president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and will assume his new duties in July of this year. The achievement is the culmination of commitment and dedication to the teaching profession that began with his involvement as a school representative.

“The nearly 2,000 teachers who are school representatives play a critical role for the Alberta Teachers’ Association and its 55 ATA locals. They provide a face and voice for the Association in every school in the province and, conversely, provide to the Association a face and voice for the teachers in their schools,” Ramsankar said.

“Getting our members engaged in PEC elections is just one of the many things school representatives do, but it is probably the most appreciated because democracy is so fundamental to the effectiveness of the Association. My thanks goes out to all school representatives for their efforts.”