EDMONTON - Hundreds of people descended on the Alberta legislature on Sunday, beach balls, soccer balls and footballs in tow, urging the government not to drop the ball on education in the province.

The rally, organized by the Holyrood School Council, drew parents, teachers and children alike, all calling on the government to increase funding by $100 million to prevent teacher layoffs across the province.

The protest was spurred by the Edmonton public school board announcement last week that provincial cuts will translate to nearly 350 teacher layoffs, including 229 full-time teaching positions and 86 full-time special needs assistant positions. Despite dipping into reserve money, the board wasn’t able to come up with enough funds to prevent the job losses.

“When we realized what we were looking at in terms of numbers, we thought, ‘What can you do?’” said Michelle Jackson, vice-chair of the Holyrood School Council and one of the rally organizers.

Jackson has a daughter attending Holyrood and said the school has prided itself on keeping class sizes small. If the cuts go forward as planned, the school will stand to lose two teaching positions, along with one of two “strategies classes,” designed to help students falling behind in reading, writing or math. Instead, all of the Grade 4, 5 and 6 students who need the extra help will now be in the same class.

“It is not acceptable,” Jackson said. “I think the province has to find more money. Don’t tell me, in this province, we can’t find money for basic services. Education is a right.”

Across the province, the Alberta Teachers’ Association predicts more than 1,000 teaching jobs will be eliminated. With thousands of students expected to enter the public school system this fall, the association says class sizes will also grow.

The provincial government increased the overall education budget this year, but only enough to cover the promised 4.5-per-cent wage increase for teachers. It cut back many of its other programs, especially the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement and English Language Learning program.

For Edmonton public, that meant the 1.1-per-cent overall funding increase can’t pay all of the staff, meaning layoffs will happen unless more money can be found.

News of the impending layoffs came the same day the Stelmach government announced it would spend $550 million to upgrade or build 35 schools by the fall of 2014, an irony that wasn’t lost on the many who attended the rally.

“They say there’s no money,” said parent Donna Kubasek, who has two children, aged 10 and 17, in Edmonton Public Schools. “It’s choices they’re making, where to put that money.”

Kubasek said the $100 million needed to prevent the layoffs is “a drop in the bucket,” when compared to the government’s overall budget, and isn’t convinced the cuts will only have an impact on one school year.

“The kids who can’t keep up in class, we’re already seeing them fall through the cracks,” she said. “Without getting the basics, it’s like building a house with only three walls. It’s not going to stand up for very long. You need a good, strong, foundation first.”

Fewer jobs for teachers had U of A education student Megan Hansen worried about whether she’ll be able to find a position when she graduates this December.

“I’m feeling a little discouraged. It’s not looking good,” said Hansen, who said she’ll likely have to leave the province to find work. “It’s just frustrating that education isn’t important to this province.”

As speaker after speaker chastised the government for what they called its failure to invest in the province’s education system, lines of children milled around the large crowd, holding signs reading “The future is not bright, Mr. Hancock” and “I love my teachers.”

Sarah Hoffman, a first-time Edmonton public trustee, said parents have already begun contacting her, wondering what the cuts will mean for their children’s school day.

“They’re really concerned about the lack of clear direction (on the part of the government),” Hoffman said. “We know we need predictable, sustainable, long-term funding, as well.”

NDP MLA Rachel Notley said the cuts demonstrated that the provincial government has lost “any sense of accountability” to the voters in Alberta and called on the province to increase funding to and reverse the freeze of special needs funding.

“This is not about tough times,” she told the boisterous crowd. “This is about choices.”

The Edmonton Catholic school board is scheduled to present its draft budget next month and is forecasting significant job losses. The Calgary Board of Education eliminated 172 jobs for the next school year to deal with a $61.7 million deficit left by provincial cuts.

mibrahim@edmontonjournal.com

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