Alberta teachers have rejected a four-year deal, putting the ATA in a position to strike by Oct. 6, leaving countless families uncertain about what happens next.
As a teacher strike becomes more likely, Alberta's government has developed a responsible plan to support kids and keep them learning while paying parents back for unexpected education expenses in the event of a strike.
This plan includes a new payment program to directly support parents experiencing financial strains because of the strike. An online learning toolkit following the grades K-12 curriculum has also been developed to support students with at-home learning.
"I'm disappointed that ATA members have rejected the settlement, choosing instead to go on strike. Students and families need to know we will support them during this time of uncertainty, so we are releasing our plan today to provide payments directly to families and to support at-home student learning."
Danielle Smith, Premier
"Our goal is to keep our kids in the classroom. Our government is ready, willing and able to head back to the bargaining table at any time."
Nate Horner, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance
With 80,000 new students joining our education system in the last two years alone, Alberta needs this investment now, more than ever. That's why Alberta's government invested $8.6 billion to build and renovate more than 130 schools. This is more than any provincial government has invested in the history of the province.
The government is aware the ATA may still choose to go forward with their plan to strike. In the event of a strike, Alberta's government has a balanced plan to support students and parents through this challenging time.
Payment program
To help ease the extra costs families may face while children are away from their desks during labour action, Alberta's government is introducing a new payment program for parents. This program would be available to parents and guardians of students aged 12 and under who attend a public, separate or francophone school and are affected by teacher strikes.
Eligible parents or guardians would receive $30 per day, or $150 per week, per student for the duration of the ATA's labour action. The first payment will be made on Oct. 31.
The payments would support families while students are unable to attend school to help offset additional costs like childcare, educational supports such as tutoring, or other activities to keep students engaged.
More information about the application process will be available shortly. To get ready, parents can set up an Alberta.ca verified account at alberta.ca/alberta-ca-account.
Learning supports
To give families flexibility during a potential labour disruption, Alberta Education and Childcare created a free toolkit for parents to support their child's learning in the event that schools are closed.
The toolkit provides resources that follow the grades K-12 curriculum. The resources are available in English, French and French immersion and focus on the core subjects of language arts, social studies, math and sciences. These resources will be updated weekly.
"We understand that the possibility of a teacher strike brings uncertainty and concerns for families. That's why Alberta's government is supporting families with practical tools and resources to help maintain their child's learning if schools are closed. This parent toolkit offers flexibility, choice, and curriculum-aligned materials to empower families, ease the pressure they're facing and keep students engaged."
Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education and Childcare
Classroom complexity funding
Throughout bargaining, teachers have advocated for more support to deal with the issue of increasing classroom complexity. Despite the teachers voting to reject this deal, Alberta's government remains committed to help address increasing classroom complexity head on and will be allocating $100 million per year over three years. These funds will hire 1,500 net new education assistants. To further address classroom complexity, the remaining funds may be used to hire up to 725 more education assistants, or used to complete autism, mental health, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, or speech-language pathology assessments for students.
Alberta's government has a strong, responsible plan to keep students learning. No matter what the union decides, government will remain unwavering in our commitment to stand with families.
Key facts:
- The offer rejected by ATA members would have made Alberta teachers the highest paid in Western Canada after provincial taxes.
- It would have provided a general wage increase of 12 per cent over the four-year term, as well as a wage grid unification which would have provided more than 95 per cent of teachers even larger wage increases up to 17 per cent.
- It would have provided tremendous investments in classroom supports to help alleviate population growth and classroom complexity pressures with the hiring of 3,000 new teachers in public, separate and francophone classrooms.
Related information
