Dr. David Swann on K-12 Education
Yesterday I announced a comprehensive K-12 education policy.
Our plan will build schools as community hubs, hire 1500 teachers and support
staff to reduce class sizes, and phase out schools fees to save parents money.
The problem: Alberta is a growing province with many young families living in
new suburbs; however, a severe shortage of new schools exists in these new
neighbourhoods.
The solution is simple: build the schools as community hubs with the input of
school boards and local municipalities where the children live. School boards
in Alberta have their priority lists, and an Alberta Liberal government would
commit to building the schools on the lists.
The problem: Due to chronic underfunding of schools by the PC government,
schools are often forced to charge parents excessive fees that run from $300 to
$1,000 a year, including transportation costs. This is, in effect, a tax on
parents.
The solution: With an Alberta Liberal government, school fees will be reduced
and eventually eliminated. The Alberta Liberals were the first party to demand
an end to school fees, and have repeatedly asked the PC government to ban
additional fees for almost a decade. The Alberta Liberals will invest $50
million this year to phase out school fees.
The problem: An additional 12,000 students are expected to enter Alberta's
school system this year. The Prentice government's budget calls for no new
teachers to be hired. The consequence of more students and no new teachers is
larger class sizes.
Solution: We would invest an extra $100 million to hire nearly 1500 teachers and
support staff to reduce class sizes. It is important not only to build new
schools, we must also staff them.
I believe that education is the best investment society can make, not a cost to
be cut. It's time to take the burden off families by increasing funding for
education in order to eliminate school fees.
The future of our province depends on supporting Alberta families and educating
our children.
There are seven days left in the election campaign.
Our plan will build schools as community hubs, hire 1500 teachers and support
staff to reduce class sizes, and phase out schools fees to save parents money.
The problem: Alberta is a growing province with many young families living in
new suburbs; however, a severe shortage of new schools exists in these new
neighbourhoods.
The solution is simple: build the schools as community hubs with the input of
school boards and local municipalities where the children live. School boards
in Alberta have their priority lists, and an Alberta Liberal government would
commit to building the schools on the lists.
The problem: Due to chronic underfunding of schools by the PC government,
schools are often forced to charge parents excessive fees that run from $300 to
$1,000 a year, including transportation costs. This is, in effect, a tax on
parents.
The solution: With an Alberta Liberal government, school fees will be reduced
and eventually eliminated. The Alberta Liberals were the first party to demand
an end to school fees, and have repeatedly asked the PC government to ban
additional fees for almost a decade. The Alberta Liberals will invest $50
million this year to phase out school fees.
The problem: An additional 12,000 students are expected to enter Alberta's
school system this year. The Prentice government's budget calls for no new
teachers to be hired. The consequence of more students and no new teachers is
larger class sizes.
Solution: We would invest an extra $100 million to hire nearly 1500 teachers and
support staff to reduce class sizes. It is important not only to build new
schools, we must also staff them.
I believe that education is the best investment society can make, not a cost to
be cut. It's time to take the burden off families by increasing funding for
education in order to eliminate school fees.
The future of our province depends on supporting Alberta families and educating
our children.
There are seven days left in the election campaign.
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