With our provincial election looming
(April 23, 2012), I wanted to provide a quick breakdown of the education policies from each of the four front running parties.
This is a
very high level overview and there is a lot more to the policies than this but these are some of the starting points. For a truly 'educated' decision on election day - read through the policies. These statements/promises come directly from the web sites (and mouths) of the parties and any promises they make are theirs to keep not mine to answer for... but I would love to hear your thoughts about some of this - use the comment link to send them out.
PC Alberta:
"In addition to our Budget 2012 commitments we will build 50 schools and
modernize 70 more, so that our students have access to the education
they need to compete on a global stage. "
"...$500 teachers tax credit, which is a reflection of our appreciation for all that teachers give out of their own pockets..."
"Progressive Conservative Leader Alison Redford promised Wednesday to
build 50 new schools and renovate 70 more over the next four years at a
cost of $2.4 billion." -
source
Wildrose
"We will depoliticize school construction by allowing locally elected
school boards to decide where schools should be built, instead of
government bureaucrats in Edmonton. "
"We will empower public, Catholic and charter schools by allowing funding
(operational and maintenance) to follow the student to the school each
student attends"
"We will work with teachers and stakeholders to replace Provincial
Achievement Tests with a new standardized model that evaluates a
student’s actual improvement and comprehension of subject matter "
Danielle Smith will eliminate school fees -
family pack.
Liberals
"The Alberta Liberal Party would create
regulations and standards for a play-based Alberta curriculum run by qualified, trained staff, and fund a $100 million expansion of government subsidized early childhood education, rolled out starting in high needs areas."
"Leader Raj Sherman says his party, if elected Monday, would develop new
schools and redevelop old ones to house community services, medical
centres and libraries.
" - source
"Ending school fees. Provincial school lunch program. Three-stage plan to eliminate post-secondary tuition. Forgive student debt for graduates who stay and work in Alberta. Increased funding for arts, culture and sports." - from platform package
NDP
"will stand up for affordable, quality education by putting a stop to school closures, school fees, childcare shortages and rising university costs."
"Introduce a childcare system that moves towards a maximum daily cost of
$25 per child, with a $9 per day cap for after school care"
"Prohibit school instruction fees... reduce post-secondary tuition fees by 10%, forgive portions of student loans" -
source
See you at the polls -
April 23, 2012
Over the weekend some very confusing information came out in the press about executive and 'non-union' pay raises at the CBE. Don Braid wrote a blistering column about the "stupidity" of the board and in an editorial the next day Pat Cochrane (Chair of the Board of Trustees) defends the raise as an item that was budgeted for work done last year. At a time when the fiscal environment for public funds is so dire, executive pay raises can be a hard pill to swallow. 
