Union, ATA critical of ministerial orders exempting students from in-person learning

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 28, 2025.

Representatives with CUPE and the Alberta Teachers Association are criticizing the minister of education for providing a handful of school districts a ministerial order that will exempt in-person learning for students who require the support of an educational assistant during ongoing strikes.

Mandy Lamoureux, CUPE local president from Edmonton, says the province needs to enter negotiation talks between striking workers and school authorities rather than “play games” with the needs of students.

“The statement from the minister leaves school divisions with the burden of strike that the provincial government is responsible for,” said Lamoureux. “Rather than play games with the education of special needs students, the government should act to fix the problems caused by low wages for education support staff. Come to the bargaining table, end the strike and let’s all get back to learning.”

Echoing concerns stated by Lamoureux, ATA president Jason Schilling says the province needs to step up to the plate and fix a mess they created.

“Changing some words on paper will not address the real problems being faced by students, particularly those who are vulnerable or who have complex learning needs,” Schilling says. “Instead of leading, the province has downloaded the responsibility onto school boards and, ultimately, school administrators to fix the resulting mess.”

In a statement released by Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides on Wednesday, the province made no indication of entering any bargaining agreements, stating “school boards have the trust of Alberta Education to make decisions regarding educational programming at the local level.”

Nicolaides said a court ruling will put ministerial orders immediately in place at four school districts who requested the exemption of in-person learning for students who required educational assistants who are currently on strike.

Those four school districts include Edmonton Public School Division, Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Board of Education, Fort McMurray School District and Sturgeon School Division.

Currently more than 6,400 CUPE educational support workers across the province have entered strike action, affecting several school districts.