This article originally appeared in the ATA News on March 6, 2014.
Alberta’s 2014 budget will do little to improve eroded classroom conditions, according to Alberta Teachers’ Association president Mark Ramsankar. Ramsankar says that 41,000 new students have entered Alberta’s schools since the 2009/10 school year, yet the teaching population has increased by only 100 over that same time period.
“The marginal increase on grant rates will barely address inflation for next school year, which the government is predicting will be 2.2 per cent,” says Ramsankar. “It will not resolve the significant class size problem that exists in schools today. The government is building new schools, but it also needs to put teachers in them.”
Provincewide average class size has increased by as much as 6 per cent over the past three years, with K–3 classes, on average, 20 per cent above the recommendation set forth by the 2003 Alberta Commission on Learning.
“Teachers are also very concerned about the composition of their classes,” says Ramsankar. “Many of today’s large classes also include a number of special needs students and English language learners; the in-class support for these students just is not there.”
Ramsankar says that about 3,200 teachers need to be hired by next year to bring class sizes back to the levels in place four years ago.
“Teacher salaries have been frozen for three years, so any increase in funding can be directed entirely to improving student learning conditions by ensuring that we have the right number of teachers in place,” says Ramsankar.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association, as the professional organization of teachers, promotes and advances public education, safeguards standards of professional practice and serves as the advocate for its 35,000 members.