Alberta Budget 2011: Timeline Update for Education

Since the Alberta Budget 2011 - Building a better Alberta was tabled in the legislature on February 24, each department has had an opportunity to debate their budgets for three hours in the the house as part of the estimates process. According to the Budget - 2011 Estimates Schedule, Education will have its opportunity on Tuesday, April 19th from 3 to 6 pm. The full budget will be debated and voted on Wednesday, April 20th during the evening session from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. A live/archived video/audio stream of this debate can be accessed at Assembly Online. In the meantime, you can attend this important CAPSC meeting and use this CAPSC resource to make sure your voice is heard up in Edmonton before Tuesday, April 19th.

How can the challenges of Education Sector Workforce Planning and the goals of the Education Business Plan be met if teachers are cut?

A couple of years ago, the Director of the Workforce Planning Department of Alberta Education, made a presentation at a public meeting of the Board of Trustees as part of a board development session. The presentation centered around a draft modelling project that would help predict enrolment growth and teacher demand on an annual basis. The picture painted by this model clearly indicated there were challenges. In a recent article in the Calgary Herald, the headline reads "200 teaching jobs face elimination." Carol Henderson, ATA President, commented in the article that losing that many teachers "would have a devastating effect on the school system." She also shared that boards across the province are facing teacher cuts as well and "fears that if other boards across the province lose a proportionate number of teachers, up to 1,000 teaching positions could be gone." Her point was driven home in subsequent articles, "Rocky View struggles with school funding 'crisis'" and "Teacher graduates may have to move to find jobs." A quick revisit of the workforce planning piece was called for - perhaps there had been some new developments. A revised report dating from March of last year, "Education Sector Workforce Planning: Framework for Action" was available on the Alberta Government website. An excerpt from this report appears below:

In the midst of Alberta’s changing economy, school systems across the province are facing some significant workforce planning challenges: the number of educators who are eligible for retirement is at an all time high; student enrolment is climbing in more than 80% of school jurisdictions in Alberta; the supply of qualified teachers available to teach in certain geographic regions and subject areas is decreasing and the attrition rate for early career teachers is an issue. Recent reductions in class sizes, declining interest in education faculty study and a generally robust and competitive labour market all contribute to the workforce planning challenge that is imminent.

It is also interesting to note that the Alberta Government's Education Business Plan 2011-2014 lists three major goals: 1. Success for every student, 2. Transformed education through collaboration and 3. Success for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Students. How can these challenges in work force planning and the goals of the business plan be met if we are cutting teachers?

Education Property Tax - Calgary

When two issues collided - the CBE announcing staffing cuts due to lack of funding and the province not collecting $42M of education property tax - there was a great deal of confusion and misinformation. If you want to know more about the situation or have any outstanding questions, we would recommend you check out Mayor Naheed Nenshi's blog post, the 2011 Education Property Taxes - Calgary Fact Sheet from the Alberta Government and the Calgary Herald article, "The $42M that could have saved 172 school jobs? Not quite."

Hon. Dave Hancock to attend CAPSC meeting April 6

CAPSC is very pleased to have the Hon. Dave Hancock, Minister of Education, attend our meeting here in Calgary on Wednesday, April 6. He will be joined by Naomi Johnson, CBE Chief Superintendent, and Pat Cochrane, Chair of the Board of Trustees. This will be a lively education panel discussion and we will be taking questions directly from the audience. The meeting will start at 5 pm in the gym at AE Cross School.

RSVP: In order to help us plan for this meeting, we would appreciate if you would RSVP so that we can anticipate numbers of attendees. All are welcome - please RSVP at madeleine.baerg@capsc.ca.

CBE Trustees' Newsletter Insert

The Trustees recently released a detailed newsletter insert for Calgary schools outlining the facts about the provincial budget impacts on education. Trustees write that, "The true impact of a provincial budget on education is not measured in dollars. The impact will be measured by the negative effect it has on our students."

Have a read and use it as a handy reference when writing your letters and emails.....

Cuts to CBE Administration

I spoke with CBE Communications this morning and just want to clarify that the first phase of 172 positions cut do include administration. Alberta Education requires that boards spend no more than 4% of their budget on administration. The board was spending 3.7% and that number has been reduced futher.

CBE Response to Provincial Budget: First Phase of Cuts to Student Support Positions

News Release
March 22, 2011
For Immediate Release

CBE INITIAL RESPONSE TO PROVINCIAL BUDGET
REDESIGNS HOW PROGRAMS ARE DELIVERED

CALGARY – The Calgary Board of Education is redesigning central services to close the $61.7
million budget gap created by the provincial budget. The result of the first phase is an estimated
$24.9 million—including 172 fewer positions for the next school year.
School principals and employees whose positions will be affected by the fundamental redesign
of how we deliver programs met today to learn about the changes. The meetings informed the
people directly affected first.
“To balance the budget, we are redesigning central services to reduce the direct impact on
schools and students,” says Naomi Johnson, chief superintendent. “Sadly, we cannot absorb a
$61.7 million shortfall without cutting positions. The best we could do today is care for the
people involved by communicating the impact as soon as we have a plan.”
The first “phase” affects positions that support students. The positions include learning leaders,
psychologists, learning specialists and other employees like speech therapists.
The goal of the initial phase of central changes is to minimize the impact of the budget in
schools. At this point, if $12 million of reserves were applied to the first-phase reductions of
$24.9 million, the estimated requirement from schools would be $24.8 million—about $100,000
per school.
The formal budgeting process, which will not be complete until June, requires approval from the
Board of Trustees. Given the magnitude of the shortfall, communicating the change could not
wait until schools and employees are preparing to break for the summer.
“The Trustees understand that plans are advancing to close the budget gap and that by
necessity there will be fewer positions in the fall,” says Pat Cochrane, Chair of the Board of
Trustees. “The only way to avoid the consequences for students and employees is for the
provincial government to restore funding for public education now.

Education Budget Will Come Before the House April 19

During Question Period at the Alberta Legislature last week, Harry Chase, MLA for Calgary Varsity, questioned whether education was actually protected in the budget this year as the government claims. He has heard from parents, teachers and school boards who have been working through the numbers and the situation is looking bleak for many – staff layoffs and larger classes. It is clear during this exchange that the Minister of Education, Hon. Dave Hancock, has struggled with some tough decisions particularly around AISI.

At the last CAPSC meeting, we talked about a window of opportunity of several weeks where the public could influence the Education budget. We can now give you a date. During this exchange, the Speaker of the House, the Hon. Ken Kowalski interceded and made the following statement, “I would like to remind all members again that this is question period. Budgetary questions and particularly Education’s budget will come before the House on the afternoon of April 19. There will be three hours that could be devoted to this subject.”

Cuts to Education

Jacquie Hansen, President of the Alberta Schools Board Association, has written a letter to the editor in this morning's Calgary Herald entitled, "Brace yourselves for cuts to education." She points out that while at first glance it appears government funding increased by 4.7%, the province actually turned around and cut or eliminated pieces of the basic funding formula. Previous blog posts have talked about the ELL funding cut (Calgary Board has the largest number of ELL students in the province at approximately 22,000) but her letter also points out that the grant that covered the cost of purchasing supplies in an area where there is a higher cost of living was eliminated as well - and this will cost the Calgary Board of Education $8M.

Ms. Hansen goes on to state that, "Schools are a people business. When dollars are cut, ultimately staff will be cut." This means fewer teachers and services for our children. Is this any way to "nurture and preserve" a world-class public education system? She calls for a funding model based on the current health-care model that would see "multi-year budgets with preset grant increases" allowing boards to plan long term.

CAPSC Question Regarding Upcoming Budget Submitted to Trustees

CAPSC made a submission during the Public Question Period at last night's regular meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Parents and School Councils are anxiously waiting for information regarding budget impacts at the school level particularly around staffing allocations. Is there a timeline in place for the RAM deployment of instructional resources to schools and when this information might be available for discussion with school councils?

Chief Superintendent, Naomi Johnson, responded that it has been three weeks since the provincial budget was tabled at the Legislature. Administration is looking closely at resources centrally and have met with principals. The tentative date for the RAM allocations to go out to schools is April 21. Administration will be meeting again with principals next week with more details around implications. A timeline is being worked on that will outline the process through to June when the budget will be presented to Trustees for their approval. Ms. Johnson hopes to have more information for the following evening's CAPSC meeting. She also indicated that Ms. Meyers, Superintendent, Finance and Business Services, would also be in attendance.

CBE Facing $61.7 M Shortfall

Preliminary budget analysis indicates that the CBE will be facing a $61.7M shortfall for the next school year. Given that approximately 75% of the budget is tied to permanent staffing (salaries and benefits), layoffs are pretty much a certainty. This will have an impact on the classroom. This will have an impact on students.

Boards throughout the province are reporting similar challenges.

The funding increase to education in the provincial budget, primarily directed at the province's contractual agreement to teachers, is offset by cuts to other educational programming. The funding shortfall of $61.7M includes $16.4 million in unfunded budget commitments carried over from the previous year that continue into this year, and $45.3M in additional salary and other mandatory cost increases - neither of which is funded by this provincial budget.

CAPSC will be following the budget process closely so check back often for updates. The CBE has also set up a web resource dedicated to the budget.

If you wish to discuss the situation with your MLA, you can find all the necessary contact information here.

Impact of Budget Cuts on AISI

In a just released issue of the ATA News, J.C. Couture and Stephen Murgatroyd have written an eye opening piece entitled, "The Alberta Initiative for (Some) School Improvement?" which discusses the shorter and longer term impacts of government reducing AISI funding by 50%.

Hon. Dave Hancock's Address to the Greater Edmonton Teachers' Convention

On March 3, the Hon. Dave Hancock, Minister of Education, spoke to the Greater Edmonton Teachers' Convention. Key excerpts from the text of the speech include:

It is my personal belief that Alberta is at a tipping point. The results of the next election will determine the direction in which Alberta moves for decades to come. In essence, Albertans are going to be asked what kind of province they want to live in...

So we have to ensure that one of the questions on the political agenda – whether it is during the upcoming leadership race or the next election – is about the desired future for education. We need to make sure the direction that is chosen is one which recognizes the importance and value of education in creating an Alberta that is dynamic, cohesive, socially equitable and prosperous...

We must help all Albertans understand that it is our investment in education that will determine our future.

I would encourage you to read the speech in its entirety - it's an important one.

Possible Teacher Layoffs are discussed on Access TV's Alberta Primetime

Access TV's Alberta Primetime sat down with Jacquie Hansen, President of the Alberta School Boards Association, to discuss the impact of cutting funding to the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) by 50%. Ms. Hansen described AISI funding as supporting work that allows for the development of creative and innovative means to improve student outcomes. This funding has "kept us leading edge."

She goes on to give kudos to the government for honouring the promised wage increase to teachers but points out that there have been adjustments in other areas including, but not limited to, no new funding in the classroom for special needs students, removal of funding to the class size initiative for grades 4 to 6, and funding that supported new immigrants to our country. Add to this inflationary pressures and increasing costs means school boards across the province could very well be looking at possible teacher layoffs. Please take a few minutes to watch this video clip.