Teachers demand action on classroom conditions

A group of Red Deer area teachers joined ATA president Jason Schilling on Tuesday, April 18, to raise awareness about overcrowding in Alberta’s classrooms.

Teachers held signs showing how large their classes are while gathered in front of a three-dimensional billboard on which actual chairs have been affixed to represent an overcrowded classroom.

Similar billboards are located in Edmonton and Calgary. The billboards are part of phase three of the ATA’s Stand for Education provincial campaign, which is calling on all political parties to make real commitments in the upcoming election to solve critical classroom conditions and help all stu-dents develop their full potential.

The campaign, which also includes television advertisements, print flyers, lawn signs and radio ads, is being used to raise the profile of education in the upcoming provincial election.

“Teachers are deeply concerned about the impact large class sizes are having on students,” Schilling said. “If students are going to get the support they deserve, teachers and parents need to see real commitments from all political parties to solve the many issues facing our public education system.”

Thousands of people have signed up on the StandforEducation.ca campaign website to show that they will vote based on a political party’s commitment to address the issues in the public education system. The ATA will continue to share information about education issues and the platform commitments of parties and will host events in the lead-up to election day on May 29. ❚