On Friday the provincial government released the results of an Alberta education report that attempted to close the debate on the province’s contested classroom size battle.
The report states that over the last 15 years the province has invested more than $3.4 million in the Class Size Initiative and despite this commitment, kindergarten to Grade 3 class sizes have only decreased - on average - by 1.4 students since 2003-2004.
“Albertans elected us with a clear mandate to conduct an audit of class sizes and determine what happened to previous funding dedicated to class size reduction. This report demonstrates that we cannot continue to throw money at this problem, rather that we must look for new solutions while continuing to appropriately fund education,” said Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education.
The report notes that school jurisdictions view the class size funding model as ineffective and funding should be included with base instruction funding so jurisdictions have flexibility to use funds to fit their unique needs.
The Chair of Rocky View Schools, Fiona Gilbert, said their Board of Trustees “firmly” believe that locally elected school boards are in the best position to make decisions that meet the needs of their students.
“We support the notion of less targeted funding, like the Class Size Initiative, assuming of course that there is a corresponding increase to the base funding grant,” Gilbert said. Regarding the release of the provincial budget this Thursday (October 24) Gilbert said the board is curious to how the government plans to fund around 1,000 new students enrolled this year.
“Our ability to be able to respond to enrollment growth, as well as the increased complexity in our schools, has been hampered by not having a budget, so we are pleased to know that the funding details will soon be available,” Gilbert said.
The looming budget is also on the minds at the Calgary Catholic School District. The district oversees Cochrane’s Holy Spirit Catholic School and St. Timothy High School.
“Once the budget is released, the Calgary Catholic School District will work through its assumptions and calculations to continue to make the best possible choices for the students and families we serve.
In terms of class-size reduction funding, we are awaiting further details from the government,” spokesperson Felicia Zuniga said.
Andrea McLeod, the president of Rocky View Local 35 of the Alberta’s Teachers’ Association, didn’t share the same optimism the school boards that serve Cochrane.
“Underfunding in education created large class sizes. The auditor general’s report said that class size funding lacked accountability and oversight, now this report recommends the total removal of accountability and oversight for class sizes. The report also failed to look at how other parts of the funding formula have affected class sizes. The only way to address the class size issue is to increase both funding and accountability.” The union represents more than 1,200 teachers and 24,000 students at Rocky View Schools.
The Class Size Information System is used by school boards to calculate class size averages at the school and jurisdiction levels. A jurisdiction report is generated through the system. Boards use the report to address their annual class size survey results in their annual education results report each year.
Provincial funding for the initiative started at $90 million in 2004-2005, and has grown to $291 million in 2018-2019.
