ARA delegates vote to support teacher-firefighters

As smoke from numerous wildfires settled on Alberta’s capital region over the May long weekend, nearly 500 teacher delegates gathered at the J W Marriott hotel in Edmonton’s Ice District to set policy and establish a budget for the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

The wildfire context not only surrounded the venue during the ATA’s Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) but permeated the assembly hall in the form of numerous points of discussion, including two emergent resolutions aimed at making it easier for teachers who are also volunteer firefighters to access leave in order to help battle Alberta’s wildfires. The first resolution (4.1) urged school boards and government to facilitate such leaves, and the second resolution (4.2) proposed that the Association fund related substitute costs.

Gary Smith, a member of Battle River Local No. 32 who is also a lieutenant with the Camrose Fire Department, brought forward the resolutions, which passed with widespread support. Smith said afterward that he was very happy with the show of support from ARA delegates.

“Lots of times people will say ‘thank you for your service,’ which I love to hear,” he said, “but the support that [delegates] showed is a lot greater than just ‘thank you for your service.’ It is an actionable item that really shows support for what firefighters do.”

Smith said that his department is being asked daily if they can spare equipment and personnel to help battle northern wildfires.

“As a volunteer firefighter, it’s hard to watch on the news ... and hear about manpower that they’re missing and homes being destroyed and people being displaced and not being able to go and help,” Smith said.

Two other teacher firefighters, Larry Neville from Chinook’s Edge Local No. 17 and Ian McLaren from Wolf Creek Local No. 3, were also in attendance as ARA delegates. 

“It’s gratifying to know that the people of Alberta support those trying to help others,” said Neville.

Artificial intelligence and careers task force

Saturday’s debate also featured discussion on two emerging issues facing teachers and the profession.

A block of three resolutions dealt with the impacts of artificial intelligence in schools. The resolutions called for treating student safety and privacy as primary considerations; evaluating AI tools for bias, discrimination and potential harms; and understanding of benefits and concerns including algorithm effects and data collection issues.

“AI has the power to revolutionize the way we teach and learn ... however, with great power comes great responsibility,” said a speaker to the resolutions.

“By adopting these resolutions, we can hope to direct and harness the power of AI to enhance our educational experiences while safeguarding the privacy, safety and well-being of our students.”

The speaker later revealed, as a demonstration of the tools’ power, that her speech was written by an AI chat bot.

Five other resolutions responded to recommendations of the government’s recent Career Education Task Force, which issued a report designed to strengthen connections between schools and jobs. 

Resolution 3-41 asserted a fundamental belief that the purpose of career, skills and technology education is to provide students with opportunities to broaden learning experiences within a well-rounded program of studies. 

Resolutions 3-37 to 3-40 urged the government to reject some of the task force recommendations and take additional actions:

• Require that teachers are still used for the instruction and supervision of CTS, dual-credit and off-campus programming.
• Mandate frequent on-site monitoring of off-campus programs to ensure student safety and adherence to standards of instruction.
• Provide additional funding for CTS and CTF classrooms to ensure class sizes remain small for the purposes of safety and supervision.
• Address shortages of skilled trades by increasing funding for postsecondary institutions.

Also, “Certificated teachers need to be the ones responsible for supervising off-campus placements and ensuring that requirements for safety inspection reports are adhered to,” said a speaker to the resolutions.

Other points of discussion

Bargaining also figured prominently during ARA. Delegates passed an emergent resolution moved by the Canadian Rockies local calling for a strategy to address the slow pace of local bargaining. They also considered local resolutions calling for the return to full local bargaining on all matters. These resolutions were ultimately defeated as delegates reiterated support for the current bilateral format. 

A resolution calling for the Association to undertake a comprehensive study of teacher workload was vigorously debated and passed with a 13 vote margin.

After a long discussion, and despite concerns about the impact of violent media on children, delegates opted to delete a 30-year-old ATA policy calling on the government to pass legislation to prevent children from accessing violent movies, video games and other electronic media.

An emergent resolution from the Edmonton Public local called for charter schools to be operated under the authorities of local school boards or become private schools.

And after a thorough, emotional discussion, the assembly passed a motion calling for the development and communication of policies and procedures to address incidents of harassment and/or assault at Association events.

Local resolutions related to the location of Summer Conference and to online delivery of teachers’ conventions were referred for study and reporting to the 2024 assembly.

Delegates also passed a balanced budget that will maintain teachers’ current fees. ❚