Local ATA cites low per-student funding in budget review

Recent data from Statistics Canada shows Alberta is spending the least amount of money per student in the country, and the local president of the Alberta Teachers Association is concerned the effects will be most felt in the classroom.

“Ultimately, when we fall to the lowest funded per pupil province in the country, I just don’t think there’s a lot of room for cherry-picking small initiatives,” said Michael Jerred, president of Medicine Hat Local 01. “How can we maintain best in class if we can’t maintain the funding?”

The StatCan study found that in 2020/21, Alberta spent $11,601 per student operating expenditure, while the national average was $13,332. With minimal increases planned in the 2024 provincial budget and stagnant growth in local enrolment, Jerred says staffing issues and classroom capacity aren’t likely to see much relief.

“I don’t see us adding any significant staff in the near future,” said Jerred, adding that the city is not experiencing the same growth in students as major centres like Calgary and Edmonton where most of the budget is focused.

“We are excluded from that compared to the rest of the province. We don’t have higher rates of new students coming into the division and so that comes with a different set of problems.”

Jerred says that lack of growth here is unique, as most of Alberta is seeing higher swings in enrolment, padding demand for more classroom space and, therefore, funding from the province.

“This was kind of identified last year after our district went through the funding model because when they look at their population growth rates year over year, we don’t have one.” said Jerred.

That being said, classroom sizes were already above the ideal and Jerred says he’ll have to look over Alberta’s education funding model to see exactly how this year’s budget will affect them.

“I’ll be looking at it from the standpoint of, “Can we handle complexity in terms of classroom sizes in Medicine Hat,’” said Jerred.

On Wednesday, Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides announced the province would provide more than $1.2 billion over the next three years to hire up to 3,100 additional teachers and classroom support staff across the province, however no specific details on additional funding for Medicine Hat schools was mentioned during the announcement.

“I am confident the investments we’re making will help address enrolment pressures while bringing in more supports to teachers so they can help our students achieve their very best,” said Nicolaides.

In addition, the budget calls for more than $1.5 billion in operating expense funding for educational learning support for students with specialized learning needs.