ATA says teacher increase is a ‘short term measure’

ATA President Jason Schilling says the latest funding announcement from the Alberta government misses the mark at addressing needs like student mental health and food insecurity. Tiffany Goodwein reports.

By Alejandro Melgar and Tiffany Goodwein

Alberta is investing in classrooms across the province, but the president of the Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) says that they have always had the money the government is offering stored away, and that it’s “like a student asking if they can use their allowance.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 17, Alberta’s minister of education announced the hiring of 800 more teachers and principals for the upcoming new year, which also includes funding for teacher assistants.

The province is also allocating $50 million to increase teacher salaries as part of a recent ratified bargaining agreement, with the goal to provide stability for school authorities.


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However, ATA president Jason Schilling says the finances the government are providing are already in their funds, and that the government is providing a “short gap measure.”

“It’s a short term measure, it’s a band aid to public education. We need some really good strategic in-depth thinking about how to address long-term systematic problems that we see within education, such as class size and composition,” Schilling said.

Schillings also says that the Alberta government knew about the shortage of teachers and increased class sizes before the summer started, but the announcement is later than expected, saying that “it shows a lack of planning on their part, but that is par for the course when government has made decisions around education.”

The issues within the classroom can be helped with more teachers, and Schilling says that teachers are looking forward to returning to the classroom. However, with the deeper issues around what a student needs now, the additional teachers doesn’t directly solve the problem.

“We have larger class sizes, we have students that are coming to school with more complex needs, especially out of the pandemic, and has really highlighted those needs of the students,” Schilling said.

“We’ve had a rollercoaster of a couple years of in-class, out of class, in-class, out of class, and teachers are noting that students need extra help.”

The president says that having more teachers to split the class sizes, along with an approach to help teachers needs to better support students, is what is needed. The class sizes, combined with the uncertainty behind the Alberta K-6 draft curriculum that has received a lot of criticism, are on the minds of teachers across the province, according to Shilling.


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Students across Alberta will be taught the new curriculum, with grades K to 3 receiving changes in math, English and literature, and K to 6 seeing a change in physical education from beginning this fall. Schilling says there are some concerns and some hesitations moving forward with the new curriculum.

“Teachers have identified the fact that it’s age-inappropriate, it’s not grade appropriate, [and] there’s a lot of questions about the resources that are available for students and for teachers to implement this curriculum,” Shilling said.

He notes that teachers aren’t confident in the timeline for planning their classes with this new curriculum, or on any assessments made by the Alberta government. However, Schilling says that teachers “will do the best that they can with their students working with them to try to make everything work.”

Schilling adds that the upcoming UCP leadership election will play a role in their hopes for an improved education system, as their own approach to the issues teachers face in the province need to be addressed.


READ MORE: ‘Dark Horse’ candidate could emerge in Alberta UCP leadership contest


For 2022-23, the Alberta government say they have allocated $59 million for the grades K-6 piloting and implementation process. This includes a $6.5-million investment to support piloting and provide teachers release time to plan for piloting and participate in regular feedback sessions throughout the piloting process.

According to the Alberta government, by September 2024, the new curriculum for all K to 6 grades and subjects is expected to be implemented.

-With files from Rachneet Randhawa and Saif Kaisar

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