Looking forward

In the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023, more than 800 Albertans, from Medicine Hat to Grande Prairie, participated in the Stand for Public Education round-table engagement process, both in person and online.  

Attendees included parents/guardians, community members, business leaders, teachers, elected school board and municipal leaders, and representatives of Indigenous and francophone communities. The collective insights of these citizens are of great value, in the service of a more hopeful future for all Albertans. 

Participants identified five key issues and priority solutions they believed would strengthen Alberta’s public education system now and in the future. Their voices and solutions helped the Association form a core vision for the future of public education in Alberta.    

What we heard from Albertans: Solutions to strengthen public education 

Key issue #1: Growing class sizes; increased complexity 

Solution: Reduce class sizes and support complexity. Classroom complexity refers to students with multiple needs in one class, including learning, behavioural, physical, social and emotional complexities. 

• Hire more teachers. Build more schools. 
• Support inclusion by reducing class sizes even further when students require more individualized supports. 

Key issue #2: Curriculum creation without teacher input 

Solution: Modernize curriculum and include teachers.  

• Pause the expansion of new curriculum development. 
• Include teachers, education leaders and curriculum experts in every part of the curriculum creation process, from development to implementation.  
• Put more emphasis on critical thinking and practical learning. 
• Reduce the emphasis on provincial standardized testing. 

Key issue #3: Students not receiving required learning supports 

Solution: Increase access to key learning supports.  

• Hire more support staff, including educational assistants.  
• Restore program unit funding for early learning supports. 
• Develop and expand readily available mental health supports for students and families. 
• Expand access to speech therapists, occupational therapists and mental health experts.  
• Ensure every student has access to a school counsellor. 

Key issue #4: Inequity in education 

Solution: Ensure all students have access to high-quality public education. 

• Prioritize public dollars for public schools. 
• Implement strategies to better support Indigenous, francophone, immigrant, and rural students and families living in poverty. 
• Create a plan to recruit and retain teachers in rural Alberta. 

Key issue #5: Deteriorating conditions due to lack of investment 

Solution: Invest in public education.  

• Provide a high-quality education system that benefits from sustainable operational funding. 
• Restore per-student public education funding to above the national average. 
• Protect and stabilize funding, regardless of which government is in power.  
• Recruit and retain more teachers while ensuring better working conditions. 

Albertans understand the importance of a strong education system and the critical role it plays in strengthening our society, democracy and economy. This understanding has deep roots in the history of our communities.  

Through our public forums and deep conversations, hundreds of Albertans clearly identified five integrated solutions that they hope will keep our education system strong into the future. We must now use the solutions to form a framework of actions, each one serving as a step along a path to a stronger, brighter future for Alberta’s children and youth.

Stand for Education Public Forums What we heard from Albertans: solutions to strengthen public education Reduce class sizes and support complexity “A cap on class sizes and more funding for support in our diverse classrooms are of the utmost mportance.” — Alberta teacher Modernize curriculum “Put more emphasis on critical thinking and practical learning instead of rote memorization.” — Alberta community member Provide learning supports “Readily availalbe mental health supports for students and families, including positions in each school dedicated to connection and re-engagement.” — Alberta parent Focus on equity “A strong public system is imperative if we are to remain a strong democracy. Every child should have the opportunity to develop their potential in a caring, inclusive school.” — Alberta grandparent Invest in public education “I would like to see funding that is stable and not dependent on which government is in power. We should not have to be debating funding and fighting for every dollar.” — Alberta business owner