Don’t let the government get away with underfunding education — that’s the message from the Livingstone-Macleod NDP candidate.
“It’s rather disheartening where they are going with the education plan — the lack of increase in funding to accommodate the increase of students coming into our province,” said NDP candidate Aileen Burke. “We already have an issue with overcrowding with students and this isn’t going to help.”
The Progressive Conservative Party’s budget announced in March stated funding for students will be capped at 2014-’15 enrolment figures — that means schools that get more students won’t get more money.
Burke said while schools in the riding are not bursting at the seams like in Okotoks, giving school boards less money will make it more difficult to attract teachers. She said $56 a barrel oil is no excuse for not properly funding education.
“That is why you move to a true progressive tax system — you increase the taxes on corporations a modest amount, you don’t need to hijack them,” Burke said. “And you actually increase our royalties so you get the funding from what is actually coming from our province.”
PC candidate Evan Berger from Nanton said he hasn’t faced any questions concerning education as he knocked on doors in the High Country.
He said school boards will have to continue to look at creative ways to handle not only a loss in funds, but also shrinking enrolment sizes.
“Unfortunately, with the loss of population, they are doing things like the three into two like they did in Claresholm and working on in Fort Macleod,” Berger said. “In the big picture that will enable other movement where they are getting the growth… Education will always be a top priority in Alberta.”
In Claresholm, an old elementary school was closed and kindergarten to Grade 12 students were then placed in the two remaining schools.
He said he has heard concerns of shrinking enrolments at schools in the riding (outside of Black Diamond-Turner Valley area).
“Declining enrolments are tough because you are trying to maintain class-sizes and programs,” Berger said. “As an MLA your main concern is to get in there and listen to the concerns of the school boards.”
Incumbent Wildrose candidate Pat Stier said he is concerned the PCs have frozen how the school boards can reserve funds.
“Whether a boiler goes out or something, the school boards have been forbidden from using that money,” Stier said. “I do believe that the local school boards should have the authority (to use reserves). To be actually told, instructed or directed otherwise seems a little bit draconian to me
“It seems they (school boards) know what there needs to be.”
School boards now need permission from Alberta Education on how it can spend its reserves.
He said the Wildrose has been advocating for new schools in Alberta. He said the PCs have failed to deliver on their promise to build new schools.
“We have been hammering these guys for the past two-and-a-half years about how they have promised 60 schools by a certain time and never built a one,” Stier said. “We have taken pictures of school sites with the Alison Redford sign on them, and still nothing has been built on those sites.
“It’s not something we have been ignoring.”
He said he is dubious the PCs can handle proper education funding in light of low oil prices.
“They have done a lot of wasteful spending in the past and now they find themselves in a situation where they can’t meet the needs of health, education and so on,” he said. “Time will tell if the budget they have is going to work. We don’t think it is going to work very well.
“They have shown they can’t manage it before where they were promising all these schools. We don’t think the schools they are promising now will be built either.”
