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...

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...

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...

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. 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...

Ms Pastoor: Mr. Speaker, in 2007 this government signed an agreement with the Alberta teachers. At the time the Premier wrote to ATA, "I pledge to seek the Legislative Assembly's support for the necessary funding to enable the Memorandum of Agreement's full execution." Now the government is sending mixed signals about its willingness to live up to the agreement on teachers' wages, and school boards are more than concerned that they soon will be...

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. VanderBurg: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. School boards in Whitecourt-Ste. Anne are concerned about education funding, not just the dollars that go into the schoolrooms but dollars that are scarce and that are needed for their transportation departments to get the students to and from their homes and schools. My questions are to the Minister of Education. With the price of oil on its rise, last year you reduced the subsidy for fuel. You...

Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last month the government announced a memorandum of understanding on aboriginal education with treaty chiefs and the federal government. Motion, however, should not be confused with progress. On aboriginal education this government is standing still and in some areas is actually going backwards. To the Minister of Education. The partnership memo­randum seems to be an agreement to come up with a strategy later, an IOU rather than an...

Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Education is shortchanging students by deliberately underfunding Alberta's public education system. By the time September rolls around and teachers are due for a salary increase, this minister will have racked up at least $175 million in an education funding shortfall. Why is the Minister of Education taking resources out of the classroom instead of doing what's right and providing sufficient funding up front to ensure...

With the release of Budget 2010, you may have heard a variety of numbers about the Government of Alberta's budget deficit, both in 2009 and in 2010. You may have heard that, for the fiscal year running April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, the deficit would be as much as $8.4 billion, or as low as $3.6 billion. For fiscal year 2010, the deficit has been said to between $4.7 and $7.55 billion. In...

Today, the Government of Alberta announced Budget 2010. This is an important budget for our province, given that we must manage a difficult fiscal situation while protecting the programs and services on which Albertans depend. In Education, this means putting the best interests of students ahead of other desires. I am pleased to inform you that we are investing $6.3 billion in education this budget year, a $52 million increase over last year. This...

The Calgary Herald recently published an article misleadingly titled "Calgary-area school bids to save cafeteria" that goes well beyond the challenges of operating a rural high school to discuss several other current concerns about education in Alberta. The article also covers concerns about what the spring budget will mean for education (read more here), the Stop the Cuts campaign (read more here), Inspiring Education and Setting the Direction, a potential school closure (which is the...

Today's Edmonton Journal has an outstanding article on the coming budget for education in Alberta. The article clearly lays out some of the possibilities that are under consideration. Your views are always welcome — you can post on this article using the comments section below, or contact the Minister. The article is divided into three parts: Murky education road ahead worries Albertans What's likely to be cut and what isn't Other Options...

Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the government considering massive cuts, stakeholder groups have been speaking out for public education, only to receive a scolding by the Minister of Education. But teachers, school trustees, and parents are not to blame. They're not to blame for creating a climate of fear around education. The actions of the minister are creating a climate of fear. To the Premier. School boards and trustees are fighting for...

I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to write me about how you value education. I have always encouraged thoughtful advocacy for education and have no desire to ever discourage it, especially at this critical time. Indeed, over the past year, we have had several broad public discussions about the value and future of education (including Inspiring Education, Setting the Direction for Special Education, and Speak Out Alberta). We've...