‘Stop the excuses’: ATA ad campaign highlights Alberta’s low funding for public education

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) is launching a new advertising campaign aimed at highlighting the fact that Alberta has the lowest-funded public education system in the country.

Albertans will begin seeing and hearing the new “Stop the Excuses” campaign on television, radio, billboard, print, and online advertisements.

“Despite having the richest economy in the country, Alberta has the poorest public education system. There is no excuse for this. Alberta students deserve better,” said ATA president Jason Schilling.

The ATA claims the public education system has seen “chronic underfunding,” which has led to student growth outpacing the teacher population by a ratio of just over two-to-one.

It adds the growth rate is equivalent to having 6,000 fewer teachers if teacher growth kept pace with student growth.

“Imagine if we cut 6,000 teachers from the school system in one day. Programs would be slashed, thousands of classes would be combined and supports for students would disappear. Well, that is what has happened in our schools not overnight, but gradually and consistently over 15 years,” Schilling said.

Last month, the ATA pointed to new data released by Statistics Canada that showed Alberta was spending on average $11,601 per student, compared to other provinces which averaged $13,332.

READ MORE: Alberta spends the least on public education among provinces: StatsCan

CityNews reached out to the province, which said the new budget plans to increase funding.

“In Budget 2024, we increased funding by 4.4% per cent, for a record investment of almost $9.3 billion this year, including more than $1.2 billion over three years specifically to address enrolment growth,” said Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in a statement.

“This funding may be used to hire up to 3,100 additional teachers and classroom support staff, so school authorities can manage class sizes and the growing number of students. $44 million will be provided in 2024-25 to help school authorities support the diverse needs of students and address classroom complexity. This is part of the more than $1.5 billion for Learning Support funding to meet students’ specialized needs.”

READ MORE: Alberta student advocacy group calls on province to prioritize K-12 students in Budget 2024

The ATA meanwhile says, to keep up with the national average, Alberta school boards would need at least a 13 per cent increase in funding.

The ATA says their campaign will be funded by teachers, and notes Albertans can learn more about the “underfunding” by visiting their website.