Red Deer's Education Crisis

Red Deer’s School Crisis:

• Here is Red Deer Public School District's letter in regards to the PC's education cuts. 

• Here is Red Deer Catholic School District's letter in regards to the PC's education cuts.

• Red Deer Public has 2.7 million less dollars than in 2014-15.

• Red Deer doesn’t have enough schools -- class sizes are at all time highs and provincial funding is not keeping up with population growth.

• In 2014-15, Red Deer Public school board used funds from its reserves to address the shortfall from government funding in order to sustain services to learners. In 2015-16, school boards won’t have the same flexibility in drawing from reserves and will have to justify the use of reserves to government and only for what government approves. 

• Red Deer schools will have higher class sizes, less support to learners and teachers, higher school fees and more obsolete technology.

• Too many classrooms in Red Deer have 30 or 40 students.

• One year ago, Red Deer schools had 5 RCMP resource officers. Today, they have been cut to one.

• Red Deer Public has 1000 staff for 10,000 students. Red Deer Public has a $100 million budget.

• Red Deer Catholic has 700 staff for 9,000 students. Red Deer Catholic has a $90 million budget.

• Both Red Deer Public and Catholic have similar budget breakdowns: 77% to instruction, 13% to facilities and maintenance, 8% to Transportation, 3% to Administration.

Provincial Education Crisis:

• 19 Growing Alberta School Boards released a joint press release expressing shared concern over how the 2015-1016 budget will have significant effect on student success and the overall education system in Alberta. http://trustees.rockyview.ab.ca/assets/joint-budget-statement

• The new PC budget provides no funding for the 12,000-19,000 new students that are expected to enroll in public education. In fact, it does not provide funding for any of the growth expected over the next three years. This means that school boards will have to stretch every dollar even more every year and serve more students with less money.

• Alberta families paid 142.6 million in school fees in 2012/2013 compared to 46.1 million in 2008-2009. Families will pay more fees for activities, services and supplies as a result of school boards being forced to increase fees to sustain minimum support and services to students and teachers.

• Government is dictating to school boards on how to allocate the budget, taking away any autonomy regarding what is best for students in their own schools and forcing them to make difficult decisions that will affect students and teachers.

• Schools will lose teaching assistants, counsellors, social workers and other support while teachers will have to accommodate larger numbers of students with even more complex needs in their classrooms. 

• Alberta Schools suffer because they do not have sustainable, predictable and sufficient funding.

• Teachers have already agreed to a 3 year pay freeze, now the PCs have announced that teachers pay will be indefinitely frozen until government can balance the budget.

The Alberta Party will:

• fight to build schools, protect our teachers, provide adequate support to learners and reduce class sizes

• reverse the PCs’ cuts to education and guarantee per-student funding to match population growth and inflation.

• invest in new schools to keep pace with Alberta’s population growth.

• phase out school fees

• reduce taxpayer subsidies to private schools that do not serve the public interest.

Serge and Krystal understand:

• Governments who cut education to save money are like farmers who sell their topsoil to pay their bills.

• Education is not an expense -- it’s an investment.

• There is no more fat to cut from the education budgets in Red Deer. The PCs are cutting into bone.

Learn about the Alberta Party’s Better Way:

www.albertaparty.ca

www.krystalkromm.com

www.sergegingras.ca