ATA says UCP budget must invest $11.35B in public education

By BRENDAN MILLER on February 27, 2025.

bmiller@medicinehatnews.com

The Alberta Teachers Association says the province needs to spend at least $11.35 billion in total operation dollars for public education in this year’s budget, a number that would bring Alberta from last in spending per student to middle of the pack.

Based on next year’s enrolment levels province-wide, the ask of $11.35 billion would equate to the province spending roughly $9.59 per student per school day, the ATA says.

“Alberta’s public education system, which includes public, separate and francophone schools, is the least funded in all of Canada,” said Jason Schilling, president of ATA during a press conference Wednesday. “This underfunding has had a detrimental effect on our students, schools and their teachers.”

Schilling told reporters anything less than an $11.35-billion commitment would leave the Alberta education system underfunded, and says the ask equates to an additional $1.55 billion more than existing spending on education.

According to Statistics Canada, Alberta spent the least funding per student in the 2020/21 school year at $11,601 per student, while the national average was $13,332.

“Not investing in Alberta’s future is something none of us can afford. We currently have students who do not have their educational needs met daily, teachers and school administrators are struggling to fill in the cracks,” Schilling says.

He says those cracks will continue to grow without a substantial commitment to educational spending from the province.

“The shortfall in education spending means crowded classrooms, a lack of support and worsening learning and working conditions for students and teachers,” adds Schilling.

During the press conference Schilling said the ATA is not asking for wasteful spending, but rather a public school system that “properly serves our students,” and says recent provincial surpluses could easily address the gap in education funding.

“We are asking for less than $10 a day per student to help make things better for everyone,” Schilling says. “Our public school system remains in crisis, yet the province had previously flaunted projected surpluses of $4.6 billion, surpluses that easily could have been used to close the funding gap.”

In the 2024 budget the UCP government did increase spending in public education with the allocation of a total $9.3 billion for K-12 schools, and included funding for new schools, learning resources and student transportation.

In September the government announced another $8.6 billion to fund the School Construction Accelerator Program that aims to create more than 200,000 new and modernized student spaces over the next seven years as the province deals with “unprecedented” increased levels of student enrolment.

Schilling says the province has seen between 10,000 to 12,000 new students enter the education system in the last couple years and says the current funding formula in place doesn’t account for new students moving into the province.

“Anything less than $11.35 billion for public education means that once again this government has failed Albertans in ensuring that the youth have the necessary resources, class sizes and teachers to succeed.”

Finance Minister Nate Horner, who will table today’s budget release, told reporters the budget is a fiscally responsible plan that attempts to balance cost of living issues while addressing continued economic volatility from the U.S.

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