On Education Funding
Myth: Education funding has been maintained.
Fact: A Freedom of Information request in February 2020 showed that school boards received $136 million less in 2019/20 compared to 2018/19.
Myth: Alberta has one of the best funded K-12 education systems in Canada.
Fact: Alberta ranks 7th amongst Canadian provinces in per pupil funding for public education.
Myth: Education funding has not been cut.
Fact: Per pupil funding for public schools has decreased 3% since 2019; adjusted for inflation, funding has declined 11% over the last 7 years.
On Curriculum Development
Myth: Teachers have been involved in the development of the draft curriculum.
Fact: The government held one two-day online session with just 100 teachers to provide feedback on the draft. Teachers involved said the consultation was not meaningful and their feedback was ignored.
On Class Size
Myth: Funding for class size reductions failed to reduce class sizes.
Fact: Class sizes started to decrease after the class size initiative funding was introduced, but the trend reversed when other funding cuts were made. The Government of Alberta no longer funds class size reductions, nor reports publicly on current class sizes.
On Teacher Discipline
Myth: The ATA protects bad teachers.
Fact: The ATA does not represent teachers in professional conduct hearings, they are responsible for their own defence.
Myth: The ATA has a conflict of interest when it comes to disciplining teachers.
Fact: The ATA takes the position of the public interest when it comes to teacher discipline.
Myth: The ATA’s process for teacher discipline is secretive and non-transparent.
Fact: All hearings are open to the public and all decisions of the hearing committee are available to any one on request.
Myth: The ATA decides if a complaint is investigated.
Fact: Any one can file a request for investigation of unprofessional conduct and the ATA is obligated to investigate every request it receives.