For Your
Information
 Striking teachers rally outside
the Alberta Legislature, Edmonton, February 7, 2002.
In February 2002, 21,000 teachers in Alberta went on
strike
calling for increased funding for education. They demanded
classroom conditions that allow them to do their best work with
children. They also laid claim for wages and benefits they
consider acceptable, in particular claims that meet the needs of
younger teachers. Jonathan Techtmeyer described the situation in
a recent post on the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) website as
follows:
"On February 4, 2002 the largest teachers strike in the
history of Alberta commenced. Teacher discontent was boiling over
after years of education cutbacks, (including funding cuts, lost
teaching positions, lost resources and salary reductions)
followed by ongoing underfunding through the 1990s. Teachers
sought through collective bargaining to improve long-standing
concerns about deficient classroom conditions. Large class sizes
were a key concern."
Instead of taking up its social responsibility and
providing
the needed increased funding for education, the Klein government
used its police powers to declare an "emergency" ordering the
teachers back to work 19 days after the strike began. Two weeks
later the Alberta Chief Justice ruled that the government had not
demonstrated an "emergency" and declared both the back-to-work
order and the arbitration process contained in the decree null
and void.
What followed is called "rule of law" in Canada. The
government quickly brought in Bill 12, described by then-ATA
President Larry Booi as "one of the most gratuitous and
draconian pieces of labour legislation in Canadian history,
rushed through the legislature in only a few days." The
legislation imposed a rigged arbitration process and stripped
existing clauses from collective agreements protecting hours of
work and class size, prohibited strikes by teachers for an
extended period, and banned activities that could be deemed to be
promoting labour action.
Teachers responded by challenging the legislation in
court,
withdrawing voluntary services, and carrying out a vigorous
campaign to inform Albertans of what was at stake. Outrage at the
government's actions and broad support for the teachers forced
the government to amend the arbitration process and agree to
establish a Learning Commission to shine a light on classroom
conditions.
 The final report of
Alberta's Commission on Learning (ACOL)
was released on October 7, 2003. The report, Every Child
Learns, Every Child Succeeds, listed 95 recommendations for
achieving the commission's vision for education and identified
the increased investment needed at $600 million. It established
province-wide guidelines for average class sizes across each school
jurisdiction, but no recommendation that would require school
boards to meet those sizes.
The report identified class size as one of the most
studied
areas in education and stated that "a wealth of research" backed
up views supporting smaller classes: "The critical point in all
of the research reviewed by the Commission is that class size
matters." This conclusion has been reinforced by all legitimate
studies since that time, and is particularly true where the
student population faces poverty, discrimination and
marginalization.
The ACOL's suggested guidelines are: 17 students for
K-3; 23
students for Grades 4-6; 25 students for Grades 7-9; and 27 students
at the high school level. Class composition was also to be
considered, for example classes with special needs and English
language learners or at-risk students should be smaller than
those set out in the guidelines.
Where does class size stand 17 years after the Learning
Commission's report was released? According to the Alberta
Auditor-General, by 2017-18, the number of jurisdictions meeting
the targets was actually lower than when the class size
initiatives began. The Auditor-General's office concluded that
class size funding had essentially become another layer of base
instructional funding.
The ATA points out that using averages is a way of
obscuring
the actual conditions of students and teachers. The ATA's
analysis of Alberta government data found that 80 per cent of
division one classes (K-3) are above the ACOL recommendation and,
on average, the oversized classes are nearly 30 per cent larger
than the recommendation. In total, nearly 17,000 Alberta division
one classrooms are oversized by more than 20 per cent. In higher
grades, 11,000 classes are 20 per cent larger than
recommended.
An investigation conducted by Edmonton Journal
reporter
Janet French in 2018 obtained hard data from six Alberta school
jurisdictions (two in each of Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer).
The finding: more than 85 per cent of K-3 classes in these
districts were oversized. French's investigation found a Grade 10
math class with 45 students, a Grade 11 science class with 47
students and a junior high physical education class with 67. In
Red Deer, one Grade 5 class had 37 students, the ATA notes.
Edmonton Public had 457 classes with between 36 and 40 kids and
Red Deer Catholic had three classes in division one with 35 or
more students.
The ATA concludes: "Sixteen years have passed since
Alberta's
largest ever teachers strike, and the biggest issue in that
dispute, class size in Alberta's schools, is as bad as ever.
Teachers, and their supportive parents, were taking a principled
stand to protect the quality of education for Alberta's students.
Unfortunately those students never got to enjoy the small class
sizes they were promised. The students that were entering
kindergarten in 2002 are now graduating from university, and a
generation of children have missed out on the benefits of small
classes."
Teachers have had fidelity to their demands for better
teaching conditions, which are students' learning conditions, and
it is clear that they will continue their fight in the coming
years. By getting together, thinking things through, and speaking
out, they are sure to find a way forward.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number
13 - April 13, 2019
Article Link:
Class
Size
Matters
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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