Education

Provincial Achievement Tests

Educators are asking government to eliminate giving provincial achievement tests to students, particularly for children in grade three where time is taken out from other educational activities in order to prepare for this test. These tests put a high degree of stress and anxiety upon childrenand result in a loss in terms of their overall education.

Special-needs funding

There are approximately 67,000 students in our province who are currently classified as special needs. About 16,300 of these students are classified as having severe disabilities. The government is in the process of redefining the funding model for special-needs education.

Currently, these students do not receive adequate funding to ensure that they receive the educational experience that they need. For example, a child in Edmonton public school with a level 8 disabilityreceives about $23,000 in funding, but the cost of a teaching assistant for that child runs as high as $49,000, leaving a funding deficit of up to $26,000. And that is before other costs, like teachers, custodial services, and building costs are taken into account. At least 20 per cent of Alberta’s special-needs children are not receiving any extra support at all.

Post Secondary Education Funding

The government must ensure proper funding in order to support all learners in their pursuit of post-secondary education.

In past years the government funding for post-secondary education has decreased, resulting in greater financial burdens being placed on families. For example, U of A students are expecting a 30 percent increase in costs for housing and tuition over three years.

Larger class sizes due to government cutbacks are growing resulting in reduced access to faculty and instructors. This puts the quality of education that our students receive in jeopardy.

High School Graduation Rates

Alberta's high school graduation rates are still among the lowest in the country. Only 68% of Alberta teenagers completed high school in the 2005-06 school year, well below the national average of 75%.

The numbers are worse in rural areas where 20 per cent of students drop out from high school before completion.

Bill 44: Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, 2009

On June 4th, 2009 Bill 44, an amendment to Alberta’s Humnan Rights Code, received Royal Assent. This bill allows parents or guardians to exclude their children from courses educational situations that address religion, sexuality or sexual orientation. It requires teachers and schools to notify parents of how and when these “controversial issues” may be taught in the classroom. Adding this requirement to the Alberta’s Human Rights code means that teachers and school boards may be called before the Human Rights Commission if they fail to comply.

Alberta’s NDP caucus led the fight in opposing Bill 44.

While we agree thatparents need to be involved in the education of their children, this bill undermines our public education system, and threatens to put teachers at risk of persecution and penalty for engaging students in critical debate.

The government must protect the children’s right to receive objective, open, science-based education in a public system and the teachers’ right to provide it without fear of retribution.