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....

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...

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...

Ms DeLong: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Education has spoken publicly in this Legislature of the importance of having community services integrated in schools and schools being integrated into the community, yet schools are still being closed in the inner city. The school boards are saying that it's the province that's pressuring them to close. My question is to the Minister of Education. What Alberta Department of Education legislation or...

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Early in May officials from Alberta Education will present to school board chairpersons and school superintendents the province's new provincial school utilization rate. These changes are a very long time in coming, and I would like to thank the hon. Minister of Education for coming forward with these new provincial utilization rates. [some applause] It's certainly about time. Now, my first question is to the Minister...

Mr. Benito: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education. There is a large backlog in deferred maintenance of schools, and with classroom space becoming critical in some areas of the province, what is the minister planning to do to address the student space issue and the maintenance backlog when there are no new projects in the 2010-11 budget?...

Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Waves of potential school closures are washing over communities in Edmonton and Calgary, but this government is looking the other way, claiming that the decisions are for the school boards to make. The truth is that, yes, city core neighbourhoods are losing students to the suburbs, but provincial policies are making the situation worse. To the minister: how are municipalities supposed to keep families in the city core...

Dr. Swann: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Government utilization policy is forcing school boards to drain the city core of schools in favour of the suburbs. At the same time, cities like Edmonton and Calgary, in keeping with the government's own land-use framework, are trying to reduce urban sprawl and revitalize their cores, which is hard to do without good schools to attract people to the core. To the Premier: will the Premier commit to an...