With Danielle Smith as Alberta’s premier-designate, many teachers are likely wondering what it means for the public education system.
Smith won the leadership of the governing United Conservative Party on the sixth ballot with 53.8 per cent of votes. Former finance minister Travis Toews came second with 46.2 per cent.
Hints of what to expect may be gleaned from Smith’s participation in a public education forum at the ATA’s Summer Conference in August. The forum included Smith along with four of the other candidates. One of the first questions asked was how each candidate would improve the provincial government’s poor relationship with the Alberta Teachers’ Association.
Smith said, when she decided to seek the leadership, she immediately reached out to the ATA to gain an understanding of what some of the issues were.
“I know where some of the flash points came and I heard that the process for the curriculum development excluded teachers and then in the end didn’t get the buy-in. Quite frankly, if we’re going to rely on teachers to implement the curriculum, you have to believe in what you’re teaching,” Smith said.
She added that the chaos and stress of the last few years of the pandemic may also be partially to blame for the hard feelings.
“I’m hoping that we can rebuild that relationship.”
At one point, Smith championed Postmedia columnist David Staples, an outspoken critic of the ATA, as someone from whom she takes education-related advice. Many teachers in the crowd reacted with laughter.
“Respect is a two-way street,” Smith responded. “I’m just trying to be respectful and tell you what I’m hearing.”
When asked about her position on school choice, Smith said she has heard from parents who believe if their child’s teacher is critical of Alberta’s energy industries, or holds particular religious beliefs, and, therefore, they should have the option to send their kids to a school of their choice.
“If you’re wondering why there’s a pressure for people to have other [school] choices, it’s because the parents are feeling like they’re not having their views and their values reflected in the classroom,” Smith said.
Smith believes school funding should be distributed more equally, with charter schools receiving more of a boost than they have in the past. She has also come out in favour of more educational assistants and more comprehensive student screening but hasn’t clarified any objectives. ❚
| Defund public schools? |
In 2018, while working as the host of a political commentary radio show, Smith penned a blog post entitled, “Maybe we need to defund public schools.” In the post, she stated “Maybe every independent school needs to be fully funded and we need to phase out every government-run, union-controlled public school more interested in indoctrinating students than teaching them critical-thinking skills.” |
