In boom-and-bust Alberta, it's feast or famine for schools - The Globe and Mail - 0 views
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As Alberta’s population spikes and shifts with a booming economy, its education system has become a tale of two realities – one with hundreds of millions in new spending and a glut of students, and another facing hundreds of teacher layoffs, empty classrooms and budget shortfalls.The province, facing a baby boom in some areas that will add another 100,000 students to its enrolment by 2020, on Tuesday announced that it will spend $550-million over the next several years to build 22 new schools and renovate another 13.
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Some of the new schools will open as early as 2014. They are largely for the boom towns – including two in Fort McMurray, home to the oil sands – which have drawn young workers starting families and made Alberta the only province in Canada to experience a growth in school enrolment in recent years.“You’ve got to do it. Our school population is growing and we need that space,” said Education Minister Dave Hancock.While many applauded the future infrastructure spending, it contrasts with present-day austerity. School boards across the province are facing major budget shortfalls this year – $100-million altogether, by one estimate – that will almost certainly mean hundreds of teaching jobs will be slashed. Boards in Calgary and Edmonton have closed low-enrolment schools in recent years as young families priced out of the downtown real estate market flee to the suburbs.Some wonder why the province is building new schools while slashing services in existing ones.“I think it was a complete shock to everybody. As we’re facing up to 1,000 teacher [position] cuts – that’s our estimate – all of a sudden here’s this big announcement for $550-million,” said Sharon Armstrong, vice-president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association. “Do we need facilities? Absolutely we do, but the situation is we also need to maintain that teaching force.”
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Mr. Hancock rejected the argument, saying education funding has grown substantially over the past decade and will grow again as oil revenues recover from the economic downturn.“We’ve had to ask people to tighten the belt a little bit, but it’s a tough budget year,” the minister said. “We’ve got to start [building] now while prices are low. We’ve got to invest in buildings in key areas where there’s a very significant need. … [Program funding] will pick up again as things go forward.”This year’s budget, which projects a $3.4-billion deficit in a province accustomed to surpluses, cut programs and reduced overall funding to all 62 of Alberta’s school boards. The Edmonton Public School Board is cutting 344 full-time jobs next year because of budget shortfalls, including 229 teaching jobs. The Calgary Board of Education projects it will cut another 280 positions.The “dichotomy” between an infrastructure splurge and programming cuts is part of Alberta’s boom and bust cycle and leaves school boards frantically slashing or hiring from year to year, said Jacquie Hansen, president of the Alberta School Board Association. The group has pressed the province for long-term, predictable funding agreements.“While it’s good we’re looking ahead in terms of our capital, we’re in tough times today,” Ms. Hansen said. “We tend to budget based on what our oil and gas revenues are doing, and we need something more stable.”
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