Education

Are we about to give up Alberta’s education advantage?

Over the past five years or so, Alberta has either been in first or second place in terms of spending, as befits Canada’s wealthiest province.

But when it comes to Alberta’s approach to education spending, things are beginning to change – and change rapidly.

Deep cuts coming to a school near you

In 2008-09, the provincial government’s over reliance on income generated by resource royalties became apparent as the price for Alberta’s most important revenue generating commodity – natural gas – plummeted. When Premier Stelmach announced over the summer that he would not consider tax increases or debt financing, the writing was on the wall: deep cuts would be coming.

Already, $80 million has been cut from education spending this year. The province now says it has no choice but to make an even more dramatic “fiscal correction” by implementing more than $2 billion in cuts in the 2010/11 budget year.

Assuming that these reductions will be spread equally between government ministries, Alberta Education will be obliged to cut as much as $340 million from K-12 spending.

Impact will be felt in classrooms

The Alberta Teachers’ Association estimates that cuts of this magnitude will result in the loss of between 3,000 and 4,000 teaching positions province-wide.

This, in turn, would lead to larger class sizes and a significantly reduced ability for schools to provide high-quality programming and support services for students.

It will also mean that many long-overdue infrastructure projects will be shelved. Worse, many newly graduating teachers will either have to give up on their chosen profession or look for work outside the province.

“There is no doubt that cuts of this magnitude will have a significant impact on classrooms,” says ATA president Carol Henderson. “Small class sizes, early literacy programs, initiatives to increase high school completion rates and resources for special needs students are all in jeopardy.”