UCP MUST STOP MAKING PARENTS CUT THEIR OWN KIDS’ EDUCATION

EDMONTON – The UCP needs to stop forcing parents to choose how to cut their own kids’ education and start properly funding schools, said Alberta NDP Opposition Education Critic Sarah Hoffman.

Recently some schools have sent letters home to parents asking about funding priorities and which areas of their kid’s education could be cut. Recently, the Alberta NDP received a letter from William Reid School in Calgary that asks parents to choose between slashing their school’s music program, or picking which elementary class sizes should go up.

“Parents shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden for Jason Kenney’s cuts to Alberta’s education system,” said Hoffman. “The UCP needs to stop asking parents how to cut their own kids’ classrooms, and start listening to parents and teachers about how to ensure students can grow and succeed.”

The letter states that “every school in the CBE (Calgary Board of Education) is faced with making difficult decisions” and that William Reid School’s expected budget has been cut by 5.7 per cent, meaning “we will lose one full-time equivalent teaching position, which is significant.”

Parents can choose between firing the music instructor and ending one-on-one instruction for kids, or bigger elementary classrooms—up from between 19 and 22 students to 24 and 27 students per class—while still cutting an elementary teacher.

“I call on the Education Minister to stop making parents pick and start making better choices on her own. Minister LaGrange needs to step up and not only fund enrollment growth for schools but maintain keep the Classroom Improvement Fund,” said Hoffman.

Jason Kenney promised during the campaign that he wouldn’t cut education. However, school boards are preparing to receive no new funding to hire teachers for the 15,000 new students entering the school system this fall and a cut to the Classroom Improvement Fund started under the NDP government.