wangsong / Depositphotos.com
EDMONTON — Alberta’s government says it is considering legislative action to end the provincewide teachers’ strike after the Alberta Teachers’ Association rejected a proposal to return to classrooms under an enhanced mediation process.
In a statement, the province said the proposed mediation would have allowed teachers to return to work Monday while continuing negotiations with the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association and a third-party mediator. The government said it is disappointed the ATA refused the offer, calling it a missed opportunity to “put kids first” and end the strike.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association said it declined the proposal because it excluded key issues such as student–teacher ratios and classroom complexity. ATA president Jason Schilling said teachers will not accept a process “designed to avoid the real issues in Alberta’s classrooms,” arguing that class sizes are too large and the government is unwilling to address the crisis in education.
Alberta NDP Education critic Amanda Chapman said the government’s letter to the ATA shows it is not negotiating in good faith. She said the proposal was a “ridiculous” attempt to force teachers back to work and that recent protests demonstrate widespread support for educators. Chapman said Premier Danielle Smith is “not listening to Albertans” and that parents are firmly behind teachers.
School divisions are preparing for continued disruption. The Fort McMurray Public School Division said all schools remain closed and yellow bus routes suspended until further notice. The province has made November diploma exams optional, assuring students who skip them will still be able to graduate and apply to post-secondary institutions.
The government said the strike, now approaching three weeks, risks causing irreparable harm to students’ education. It reiterated that it wants the same outcomes as the ATA—more teachers, better pay, more educational assistants and more classrooms—but warned that if the union refuses to return to work, it is prepared to legislate an end to the strike.
Comments