Survey of principals highlights shortage of funding, support
Alberta schools are chronically underfunded, lacking support for kids with stress and special needs, and lacking resources for health care, physical education and libraries, according to a new survey of principals by a student advocacy group.
The first of its kind in Alberta, entitled Levelling the Playing Field: A Comprehensive Resource Audit of Alberta Schools, the Support Our Students report collected data from nearly 1,700 schools that receive public funding, surveying principals who replied with an alarming tone of worry for student anxiety and too little funding.
“We really wanted to provide a comprehensive measurement of where schools are at, not just in terms of how much they are funded but exactly how they are funded,” said Barbara Silva, spokeswoman for SOS.
“Success isn’t just about how schools are doing on standardized tests, those are just snapshots in time. We want to look at the lack of resources, the inequities among schools and how we are choosing to fund learning. That is what should guide our advocacy.”
The survey, conducted over a three-week period last fall, points to schools that are stretched for resources, with highlights showing that 52 per cent of respondents reported having no specialeducation teachers, 70 per cent reported having no librarians, 45 per cent reported having no phys-ed teachers and 58 per cent reported having no nurse available for students.
Alberta Education Minister David Eggen said that during the economic downturn, the province has had to make tough choices around resources, but said they’ve supported families better than the previous government.
“We have funded for enrolment for three straight budgets and continue to build much-needed schools in every corner of the province. Our government has provided school authorities with $973 million in cumulative additional funding compared to the previous government’s proposed Budget 2015. We also reversed planned cuts that would have taken teachers out of the classroom.”
Mark Ramsankar, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, added that government efforts to reduce school fees and fund nutrition programs are also a good step toward helping stressed families.
“We continue to see a growing complexity in the classroom. We see it every day. And the pressure on administrators, principals, to distribute limited funds is tremendous. You can be as creative as you want with a budget but if you can’t hire a counsellor, you can’t hire a counsellor.”
Within the survey, principals — some of whom defied direction by their district not to respond — painted an alarming picture of stress, anxiety, drug use and selfharm among students, as well as families struggling in an unrelenting economic downturn.
Examples of direct quotes pulled from principal responses included:
“More kids are coming to school with ADHD, diagnosed and notyet diagnosed, anxiety disorders, psychological effects from … abuse, trauma and other family issues. Kids are exposed to, and are even doing, drugs at an alarming rate.”
“Kids are suicidal and selfharming … we could easily employ a counsellor two to three days per week. Yet, educational assistants are being cut back more and more.”
“I have parents coming to me in tears not sure how they are going to feed their kids, or clothe them for winter … kids are dealing with more and more, but are receiving less and less help.”
Silva said that while SOS has heard about student stress from multiple sources, they were surprised so many principals took time out to individually comment on the issue.
“Multiple principals, both urban and rural, voluntarily filled out comments to address increasing levels of anxiety, stress and trauma. They are feeling ill equipped and under resourced to deal with it. It not only confirms what we are hearing, but speaks to how important this issue is that principals took the added time to individually comment on this issue.”