ATA hopeful province is serious about addressing class sizes, complexities

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on November 8, 2025.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

The Alberta Teachers Association is cautiously optimistic following a provincial announcement of a Class Size and Complexity Cabinet Committee, but say now is the time for action.

This committee, consisting of Premier Danielle Smith, Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Rick Wilson and Minister of Child and Family Services Searle Turton as voting members as well as non-voting members representing school boards, administrators and a teacher representative of the ATA.

“Over the last two years, teachers have voiced concerns about class sizes, complexity and a lack of supports,” said ATA president Jason Schilling. “But, it took 51,000 teachers and school leaders, united in job action, to bring about change.”

As a partner of the class size and complexity cabinet committee, he continued, the ATA will share teachers’ expertise and lived experiences to come up with practical solutions to create better classroom environments.

He says, “Now the government must show that it’s ready to repair the damage, rebuild trust and finally do right by Alberta’s public education system.”

A report created by the Aggression and Complexity in Schools Action Team in June has been received and will be released soon, the province says, as well as used in solutions rolled out by the committee.

In addition, the committee will guide the creation of a new inclusive education policy framework.

Schilling said that while teachers would have preferred to have these solutions presented as part of a collective agreement, “This is the solution that they put forward, and we will work with them, because we have the evidence, the expertise and the solutions that we know are working in our classrooms. We will work at that table to move government in the direction that is going to benefit students and teachers.”

He maintains that the ultimate goal remains to address class sizes and complexities and that what they need right now are decisions made swiftly to get funds and recommendations that make a difference into schools.

He not only hopes this is what will be the government’s focus but says the ATA is prepared to hold them to account.

“We heard teacher concerns, and we are providing solutions. The Class Size and Complexity Cabinet Committee will help us take immediate action and ensure teachers and students are given the support they need to succeed,” said Nicolaides.

Schilling says the ATA is unsure what the results of the injunction regarding Bill 2 will be, or if teachers will return to a strike should they regain the ability to do so. He is however, confident that parents and community members will recognize the importance of public education and support them should it come to pass.

“What I’ve seen over the last several weeks through the job action is that Albertans, parents, community members, businesses across this province are concerned about public education,” said Schilling. “There’s no going back to the way things were in terms of people not understanding the impacts of lack of funding in education.

“People are not willing to accept silence from government or inaction by the government on this file anymore, and I believe that the support of parents will be there because they understand what’s at risk.”

Alberta’s NDP released a statement from Shadow Minister for Education Amanda Chapman in regards to the formation of the committee.

“The UCP government had the opportunity to take action back in 2023 when Alberta’s New Democrats tabled a Bill for classroom size and complexity reporting to be reinstated, but they voted it down. It’s unfortunate it took this long for this government to realize how important this work is,” said Chapman. “My message is clear: get to work and get the work done ASAP so teachers and students have safe and supportive learning environments.”

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