Big changes in Alberta schools
NDP’s Eggen won’t apologize for moving at ambitious pace
Education Minister David Eggen’s agenda was jammed this year as he visited about 100 schools across Alberta and met with dozens of school boards. In the summer, he was also tasked with talking to cultural groups across the province as part of the premier’s push to tackle racism in Alberta.
In the legislature, a bill to protect the privacy of students in gay-straight alliances (GSAs) kindled emotions inside and outside the chamber, and legislation to amend the School Act officially marked the death of a replacement Education Act, which had sat unproclaimed for five years.
Postmedia asked Eggen to reflect on the change-filled year and explain what’s ahead. Responses have been edited for length.
Q What are you most proud of in 2017?
A It was an amazing year, really. We had four pieces of legislation pass, and we’re in the middle of the biggest school build in the province’s history. I’ve had quite significant legislation in the spring with reducing school fees, and we had the GSA legislation here in the fall.
I’m just really proud of how schools and teachers and parents and everybody pulled together to set a positive direction for education here in the province.
Q What’s something you did this year that made you think, “Hmm, that didn’t go as planned.”
A The act to reduce school fees was a big undertaking, and it’s an ongoing process. People were saying, “Oh, well, we can’t go on any field trips any more.” We had some people saying, “Oh, our buses, we’re having to pay still.” So, I’m continuing on the path to further reduce school fees over time, over this next school year again.
We’ll just make sure we have sharp messaging so people know that we are backfilling any reduction in school fees through funds here from the provincial government. It was like stepping into something we knew was big, but we didn’t understand the whole scope of how we could roll it out.
Q Because you had some irritated school board chairs writing you letters?
A Yes.
I did put quite a big imposition on them to start accounting for the fees in a much more methodical way, and recording, and I knew that wasn’t easy to do, so I thank them for turning that around.
And over time, our goal of making life more affordable for Alberta families, it’s worth the extra effort.
Q What are your big goals for 2018?
A We’re continuing on with curriculum development. We’ve had tens of thousands of Alberta families and individuals make recommendations. We know that curriculum needs to be upgraded and updated — especially in regards to mathematics and language arts. Obviously, our kids deserve it.
We also signed a collective agreement with teachers that produced the (one-year, $75-million) classroom improvement fund, which is a very innovative process by which teachers and school boards sit down together and look for ways to spend money together to improve classroom conditions for students and for teachers.
Q What happens after August 2018, when the classroom improvement fund runs out?
A When you have good things happening, you want to nurture them, right? I’m interested in seeing if we can find ways to continue it.
Q One thing you have touted throughout your term is that you’re fully funding the cost
of school enrolment growth. But we’re hearing a lot about
belt-tightening. Is enrolment growth going to be funded in the 2018 budget?
A We will certainly endeavour to do so. I send about 97 per cent of all the funding for education out to school boards.
I’ve seen our government, our caucus and our premier look at sacrifices in other areas for us to fund education.
That’s what I’m the advocate for, but I also have to be mindful of the economic situation that we’re in.
Q I asked Edmonton public school board chairwoman Michelle Draper, “If you could have the minister’s ear on one thing, what would you say?” And she said, “Slow down, my goodness.” There’s been so much regulatory change. Why does it have to be so fast?
A We saw a very unstable conservative government that had a different education minister every year for a long time.
A different premier every couple years. There were a lot of things that were just way overdue. To reduce school fees — you know, it was an awful thing every fall when people had to spend hundreds of dollars to go to high school. We knew that we had to revise the gay-straight alliance legislation.
It was flawed. It didn’t protect kids like it should. It allowed people to say that they would maybe “out” kids who were in a GSA.
Those things had to be fixed. I won’t apologize for an ambitious agenda. We will not have four big pieces of legislation in education in 2018, that’s for sure. I’m proud of all we’ve done this year.