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....

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...

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. 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...

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 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. 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. Jacobs: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our rural school board in my constituency is facing an $850,000 shortfall in the 2010-11 school year despite the announcements by the Minister of Education that school boards will receive a zero per cent increase. I don't know if zero per cent is an entirely correct figure as I have heard that school boards will in fact receive an overall budget decrease of over 4.17 per cent, 1.17...

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...

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...

This morning Minister Hancock spoke at the Fall General Meeting of the Alberta School Boards' Association. His remarks follow below (check against delivery). Thank you very much, Heather, and thank you for the invitation to speak with you again....

Mr. McFarland: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been hearing from three of the school boards in our riding about recent cuts of some $80 million to school board budgets. In addition, I think many of us have seen the ads where the ATA and the ASBA have expressed their interest in this issue. To the minister: if investing in our education is really so critical to the economic prosperity and recovery of this province, why...