The following message was distributed to the education sector earlier this afternoon. For the past eighteen months, the education sector has engaged in many conversations about the future of learning in our province. The five year agreement between the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Teacher's Association, subsequently effected in part by collective agreements between school boards and ATA locals, created a clear time frame where work like Inspiring Education could happen without the...

The Edmonton Journal recently ran an editorial by Paula Simons about Bill 44, the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, 2009. The editorial claims "Catholic schools threatened if Bill 44 opting-out rule enforced." I have sent the Journal the following letter in response, but it has yet to be printed....

In recent weeks, as school boards have been preparing and debating their budgets for the coming year, there has been a lot of public discussion about whether government is fulfilling its agreement to fund teachers' salary increases. To repeat what I have said many times to school boards, teachers, reporters, and anyone else who will listen: government made a commitment in the five year agreement and we are not backing away from that commitment....

Thank very much, President Henderson. I certainly appreciate the invitation to join you this morning, and the invitation to join you last night. I appreciated the opportunity to meet with so many of you and to have a chance to talk frankly about what's important to us in education. It is a pleasure to be here with you today with my Parliamentary Assistant, the member for Edmonton-Decore, Janice Sarich. If you have any tough...

Recently, many people have been writing my office with concerns about the diploma exams that were written at the end of January 2010. I asked the department to thoroughly investigate each of the issues that were raised. The diploma exam program in its present form is a significant milestone in students' formal education. These tests are designed to be exit exams that assess students' knowledge of the Alberta programs of study. Like the courses...

Today, Minister Hancock and Minister of Infrastructure Ray Danyluk announced that construction will soon begin on ten new schools in Edmonton and the Calgary region. Three will be constructed in high growth areas in Edmonton, five in Calgary, and one each in Okotoks and Langdon. All of the schools will open to students in September 2012....

Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was driving into the city the other day, and I saw a Strathcona county school bus with a big sign on the back advertising Elk Island school division. I've seen other school divisions advertising on billboards and TV. To the Minister of Education: given the need for accountability why in these tight fiscal times are school boards spending precious educa­tion dollars on advertising rather than on students...

Mr. VanderBurg: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within Whitecourt-Ste. Anne Northern Gateway school division spans nearly 375 kilometres from end to end, further than the distance between Edmonton and Calgary. Each day 4,000 students in this division are transported over 12,000 kilometres. My questions are all to the Minister of Education. Pembina Hills school division receives $64 per weighted passenger more than Northern Gateway. They have fewer square kilometres, fewer weighted passengers, fewer routes, and...

Mr. Chase: Mr. Speaker, funding cutbacks are causing boards to eliminate segregated programs for special-needs students. This government's flawed school closure process has targeted a school for complex learners in Calgary-Varsity. With concerns growing, the government can only gesture to a review of special education two years in the making. Parents, students, teachers, and staff need answers now. To the minister: what does the minister have to say to parents concerned that special-needs students...

A year after construction was completed, a school on the Peavine Metis Settlement is finally home to students of Northland School Division. The province provided $12.5 million to build a new school in Peavine because the existing school was in very poor condition. While construction was completed in April 2009, the new school sat empty because of a land transfer issue and the students were unable to move in....

Mr. Bhullar: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Many of the world's leading educational thinkers believe that education systems around North America are systematically draining creativity out of our children by focusing on standardized curriculum, standardized instruction, and standardized testing. To the Minister of Education: what is your department doing to ensure our system is developing and building upon the natural ability and passion of our students? Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A...

Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. The town of Beaumont is rapidly growing, and their school can't keep up. They've lost their music and computer rooms to provide more classroom space, and they have one portable, but their school still is far too small. Now, grade 3 students carry their desks across the street every day to a fully liquor licensed facility, Club Beaumont, which they are using as classroom space. Why has...

Dr. Swann: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This government constantly boasts about how much better off Alberta is in weathering the recession while refusing to honour teacher contracts, repair aging schools, or adequately support special-needs education. To the Minister of Education: if this government isn't willing to carry out its educational obligations such as bargaining in good faith with our teachers, will you at least provide greater autonomy to locally elected schools boards...

Mr. Anderson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Rocky View school division and especially the city of Airdrie are at a crisis point with regard to school infrastructure. Airdrie students are holding math classes in the library, the gym, and in some instances in the hall­ways. Trustees are even considering busing kids into soon-to-be­closed inner-city Calgary schools. The division is now begging for $5 million for 20 new portables to make a secondary temporary portable...

Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. After engaging over 7,000 Albertans, the Setting the Direction for Special Education final report was submitted to the minister over 10 months ago, yet we still have not heard any response from the government. To the Minister of Education: is the delay in the government response an indication that you're backing away from a commitment to a truly supportive and inclusive education system that Albertans obviously...

Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government abandoned its commitment to fund a five-year agreement with teachers. Now, with the 2010-11 academic year approaching and no extra money for teachers' salaries on the table, school boards, students, and families are about to feel the crunch. To the minister: with the Calgary board of education considering eliminating 150 positions to cover its $21 million shortfall, what plans does the minister have to prevent layoffs?...

Mr. Boutilier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wasn't sure if . . . [interjection] To the person across the way who said, "Quack, quack," you look like a duck. Having said that, I spoke to students today from my constituency, three high school students. We've heard the government say that education is an investment, not an expense. As a follow-up, schools are being closed, programs are being cut, yet there's a contradiction: the government...

Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Parkdale, McCauley, Eastwood, Fulton Place, and Capilano schools are five schools that are on the chopping block tonight. At the same time, the Edmonton public school board is not getting any new resources to support the six schools that they are opening this September. The government is forcing school boards to shift resources from older schools to new ones. I want to ask the Minister of Education...

Several school boards around Alberta are presently considering closing schools. As Minister of Education, I have been asked by several parties to place a moratorium on school closures, for a variety of reasons. Some people suggest that the processes used to discuss school closures are flawed. Others say that a high-quality educational program requires schools in the communities where children live, whether rural or urban. And others point out that schools should be a...

Mr. Allred: Mr. Speaker, one of the best ways to enhance Alberta's competitiveness is to maintain our world-leading standing in education. Other countries recognize the extraordinary importance that education will play in their economic future, and their students are leaping ahead of Alberta students. I was pleased the other evening to go to hear an educational consultant from Finland speak in St. Albert. To the Minister of Education. Finland has what is, very simply,...