It’s an election-year budget that barely begins to fix the chronic problems created by years of underfunding.
That’s the description ATA president Jason Schilling gave for Budget 2023, which has been touted by the province as an historic education investment.
The education budget increases operational spending by $433 million through a six per cent increase to base instructional grants. It also shows increases to fund enrolment growth of 3.5 per cent in the current school year and an anticipated increase of 2.5 per cent for next school year.
Schilling says the increases are significant and welcome, but he is concerned that students have to wait for election years to see their education supported appropriately.
“Our students should always be able to expect appropriate funding independent of political and economic cycles,” he said. “It’s sad that schools have to wait for an election year, when oil prices are high, to get the funding they need.”
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says that school authorities deserve a government that will support them in addressing issues like enrolment growth, complex learning needs and transportation affordability.
“This investment addresses rising enrolment, helps meet students’ diverse needs and helps school authorities combat inflation,” said LaGrange in a budget-day news release.
Budget documents outline a projected $1.8 billion increase in operational funding over the next three years, which would result in the hiring of 3,000 educational staff over that time period.
“By investing in our education system, we are ensuring students are prepared for success throughout their lives,” said Finance Minister Travis Toews. “While inflation continues to be a challenge, we are providing stable, predictable funding so school authorities can hire the staff they need to help students learn.”
Systemic issues
Prior to budget day, the Alberta Teachers’ Association released graphs from new Statistics Canada data that showed that Alberta spent $1,767 per student less than the national average in 2019/20, resulting in the lowest rate of funding in the country. The documentation also showed that Alberta has the highest student-to-educator ratio with an education workforce that was just three-quarters the size of the national average.
“The budget will not be able to address the systemic issues plaguing schools,” said Schilling. “We are a long way behind after years of rapid population growth and chronic underfunding. We would need $1.2 billion just to catch us up to the national average in funding from three years ago.
For its part, the NDP says that Budget 2023 continues to underfund Alberta schools, with the province maintaining the lowest funding per student in Canada.
“Alberta is now 3,600 teachers short of what is needed,” said Education Critic Sarah Hoffman in a letter to parents after budget day. “Children who need more opportunities for individual attention still won’t get it.”
Other significant changes in Budget 2023 include
- a 10 per cent rate increase to specialized learning supports, program unit funding (PUF), English as an additional language (EAL) and First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) funding envelopes;
- a new $42 million per year fund for addressing classroom complexity;
- a five per cent increase to operations and maintenance funding; and
- a $93 million boost to school transportation funding.
Student transportation will now fund busing for students attending private, charter and alternative schools, while also decreasing the funded distance for students from 2.4 to one kilometre. Government documents suggest the number of students funded for transportation will increase by 80,000 as a result of these changes.
The budget also sets aside $40 million for student well-being and $47 million for curriculum implementation, although officials are keeping mum about which grades and subjects are set to be implemented in the next school year.
The government’s capital budget includes $2.3 billion to fund 58 new school and school modernization projects over the next three years. The day after the budget, LaGrange announced 13 new projects that would be fully funded and others that would receive design or planning funding. Included in the budget, though, is $171 million to support more charter school infrastructure and $43 million to fund so-called collegiate schools, which also operate outside of the public education system.
The budget is expected to be passed before the legislature lets out at the end of March. Election day is May 29.
ATA News Editor-in-Chief
