Board’s calculations suggest cuts could mean 932 fewer teachers
A hiring freeze, no enrolment growth funding or cuts to government funding could lead to hundreds of fewer teachers and school employees at Edmonton Public Schools, say four pessimistic scenarios presented to the school board.
“It’s very dramatic,” said Michael Janz, a public school trustee for southwest Edmonton. “It’s clear this could have a drastic impact, and at a time when we’re supposed to increase educational outcomes.”
At Janz’s request, school district finance staff calculated the potential effects in schools of four hypothetical scenarios where the board would receive less money per pupil from the provincial government.
Assuming enrolment in the district continues to climb at 3.4 per cent each year, a five per cent cut to government funding would lead to a $196-million shortfall within four years, the report said. With about 80 per cent of the board’s spending directed to salaries, the cut could lead to the loss of 932 full-time equivalent jobs in four years — that’s 10 per cent of the district’s workforce.
A three per cent funding cut could lead to 841 fewer full-time jobs, the report said. Failing to replace the 261 employees who retired in the 2017-18 school year would also see the district workforce reduced by 2.9 per cent, it said.
If the government had refused to fund rising enrolment this year in Edmonton public, the district would have failed to hire 188 more teachers and support staff now in classrooms, the report said.
Janz last spring requested administrators crunch the numbers when “the rhetoric around provincial funding, and in part, education funding, was getting quite concerning,” he said Monday.
Education spending makes up about 15 per cent of Alberta’s $56.2-billion 2018-19 provincial budget.
With a spring provincial election looming, United Conservative Party (UCP) Leader Jason Kenney has said a “period of austerity” would be needed to balance the budget if he was elected premier. As a party leadership candidate in September 2017, he said Alberta needs to learn how B.C. delivers the same public services as Alberta for a lower cost.
Kenney later said he’d consider a spending freeze, or one per cent to two per cent cut, depending on growth.
The NDP has campaigned against the UCP by alleging Kenney will make deep cuts to spending on health, education and seniors’ care if elected.
Janz said the district’s calculations are a “canary in a coal mine” warning to school boards and parents about the practical effects of potential spending cuts. They could lead to even larger class sizes and less attention for students with complex needs at a time parents are demanding improvements in education.
“There’s no way you can expect better educational outcomes by starving the classroom of resources,” he said.
Although Janz has previously campaigned for his past school board colleague and current Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, he said his request was motivated by concern for the quality of public education, not politics.
UCP spokeswoman Christine Myatt said in an email Friday the party’s platform is still under development. Kenney has said spending reductions are possible without cutting front-line staff, and has never speculated about a five per cent spending cut, she said.
In a Monday email, Education Minister David Eggen pointed to the NDP’s funding of school enrolment growth, which has led to 3,600 more teachers working in Alberta since 2015. The party has “no plans to cut education like Jason Kenney and the UCP have suggested they would do,” he said.
With school enrolment growing in Calgary and Edmonton, the Alberta Party has had no discussion about reducing education spending, Calgary- South East MLA Rick Fraser said Monday. The party’s shadow budget proposed increasing spending on K-12 education.
The Edmonton public school board is expected to discuss the report Tuesday afternoon.