With the election over, our work continues

Question: So, the election is done. What now?

Answer: Well, my crystal ball has been in the shop for repairs ever since the onset of the global pandemic, but with United Conservative Party (UCP) continuing in government, I know that many members are wondering what is ahead for teachers and their Association. So let’s take a stab at the question anyway.

To begin with, I think there is room for cautious optimism, and it starts with the fact that Premier Danielle Smith is not Premier Jason Kenney. When Kenney took office, he had clear plan for the education sector and a ruthless determination to implement it. Central to that plan was the rapid introduction of a radical, highly ideological curriculum. Certainly, that has not gone as planned and actually has become a source of considerable discontent with the government. Recently, the Association’s advocacy has contributed to slowing down the implementation of the curriculum and helped to mitigate some of its worst aspects.

Kenney succeeded in stripping the Association of its regulatory functions but, again, it is not clear that this has been a big win for the government. Although the commission created to undertake teacher discipline has been operational for less than six months, the officials charged with launching the new system have come to a new appreciation of the efficiency, expertise and experience the Association had developed over the course of many decades. At the same time, the Association will emerge from this experience as a more focused organization with a clear and uncompromised mission to stand behind members in every respect of their work.

Kenney had stated directly to us that removing principals from the Association was a “second term project.” Fortunately, he never completed a first term and it seems unlikely that the Smith government shares Kenney’s enthusiasm for an ill-considered policy objective that would plunge the education sector into conflict.

If Smith is not Kenney, she seems to me to be a bit like Ralph Klein. While she does not share his popularity, like Klein, Smith is personally charming and, well, flexible. She changes her mind, her narrative and her policy positions frequently and, like Klein, wants to be liked. She has already taken some steps during her brief tenure to improve the government’s relationship with the Association. At the very least, she insisted that the minister of education actually talk to President Schilling.

All this means that there is some room for dialogue and even progress. In the past 18 months, President Schilling has met with members of the UCP caucus who were pursuing the leadership of the party, providing them with what was often their first exposure to the Association. I can tell you that the exercise was eye-opening for many of them, and I believe they left with a very different understanding of the Association and its role in the education sector. Now that several of these former candidates will be influential in the new government, the investment in reaching out to them may be helpful.

Similarly, senior officials of government have discovered that the Association has expertise and institutional memory that department staff, who increasingly come from outside the education sector, do not possess. I believe we have a shared interest and willingness to foster ongoing conversation at the officials’ level on practical issues and program implementation. We at the Association are always willing to provide good, honest advice.

Despite the glimmers of hope I have identified above, I am under no illusion that all before us is sweetness and light. The election campaign cast a light on deep divisions within the UCP and the province generally. Some very ugly beliefs and ideological perspectives surfaced. Many Albertans, including our members, were vilified, attacked and left wondering if this province is a safe and caring space for them.

There is still a war going on for the heart of this province and, critically for us, for the future of public education. I expect that this will play out in several different ways over the next months and years, resulting in considerable political uncertainty and social discord. In this context, our non-partisanship and our successful effort to raise public education concerns to the forefront of public discourse will pay significant dividends.

In the final analysis, though, my optimism is founded on the enduring support that Albertans have expressed for public education. People vote the way they do for many different reasons, and it is important not to take the outcome of this election as a vote of nonconfidence in public education. In fact, the evidence suggests otherwise. First of all, the recent Alberta election was a closer run thing than even the relatively close outcome would suggest. In this context, the efforts of teachers and their supporters, supported by Association advocacy, most definitely had an effect, raising the profile of education issues including classroom conditions, infrastructure, curriculum and funding. Various polling suggests that education was one of the top five issues of importance to Alberta voters, rising to third place in Calgary. Public education is not a strength for this government, and that is a problem the UCP needs to fix before the next election if it intends to stay in power.

Teachers should take some satisfaction in this result as it suggests that education will remain a high priority for all parties for the immediate future. It will, however, be important to keep the pressure on government to deliver its admittedly vague promises of significant funding to enable the hiring of additional teachers and adopt a more collaborative approach to curriculum development.

I am also buoyed by my personal confidence in you and in this organization. We will continue to work intelligently, creatively, diligently and relentlessly for our members and we can, with your support, materially improve the working lives of teachers and learning conditions of students. I want to thank so many of you who chose to involve yourselves in the election campaign, whatever party you chose to support. Preparing students to be active citizens in our democracy is a fundamental mission of public education and, by participating, you were living that mission.

Colleagues, we will keep calm and carry on.

Best wishes for a restful and restorative summer.