The Alberta Teachers’ Association, as the professional organization of teachers, promotes and advances public education, supports professional practice and serves as the advocate for its members. Editor-in-Chief: Kristine Wilkinson | kristine.wilkinson@ata.ab.ca | 780-447-9476 Managing Editor: Lindsay Yakimyshyn | lindsay.yakimyshyn@ata.ab.ca | 780-447-9425 Advertising: Trevor Battye Advertising Sales | trevor@tbasales.ca | 1-778-773-9397 Designer: John Labots Graphic Design Inc. Copy Editors: ATA Editorial Staff
January 13, 2026
Volume 60, Number 7
EDITORIAL Kristine Wilkinson ATA News Editor-in-Chief Students need space for learning
However, by May 2025, it was clear the province remained behind schedule. The government pledged funding to fast-track 11 school projects across Alberta—a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed. Alberta is registering a net enrolment growth of around 20,000 students per year, which would roughly equate to 30 new schools annually. If we’re adding only 11 schools per year while enrolment numbers call for 30, Alberta is building less than one third of what’s required. This is why we’re seeing hallways, libraries and even gymnasiums being turned into makeshift classrooms, and schools being forced to turn students away. Teachers and school leaders are doing their best, but I speak from experience when I say holding classes on a school gym’s stage while a P.E. class is taking place in the gym itself is not conducive to learning. To soften the gap, the government has leaned heavily on modular classrooms, investing $50 million to deploy them across 19 school boards. Modulars certainly provide temporary relief, but they do not replace • Searle Turton, minister of Child and Family Services In addition, representatives of various interested groups sit as nonvoting members: • Elissa Corsi, Alberta Teachers’ Association • Lynnette Anderson, chief superintendent, Edmonton Catholic Schools • Nicole Buchanan, chair, Red Deer Public Schools • Marilyn Dennis, former president, Alberta School Boards Association • Mike McMann, superintendent, Fort Vermilion Schools and president, College of Alberta School Superintendents • Joanne Pitman, chief superintendent, Calgary Board of Education • Kevin Van Lagen, principal, Prairie Land School Division (named to the committee January 5, 2026)
long-term infrastructure. They have no gyms, proper libraries, science labs or technology spaces. Modulars are a stopgap, not a solution. The government’s $8.6 billion investment and assurances of swift construction may sound bold, but the province has underdelivered, and students and teachers are paying the price. More than a year after the School Construction Accelerator Program was announced, only 33 of the 132 promised school projects had even moved to the next design or construction phase. The rest remain stalled in planning, approvals or worse: they are absent from any timeline despite assurances from the minister of Education and Childcare that this would not be the case. In fast-growing cities like Calgary and Edmonton, boards have been forced to chop offices, libraries and even storage to carve out classroom space. And rural communities aren’t immune from this issue. Though Budget 2025 included funding for rural school projects, few will open before 2027 or 2028. The classroom crisis is already here. • Tamara Korolis, teacher, Calgary Board of Education (named to the committee January 5, 2026) That this committee should be established at all, that it is chaired by the premier with significant representation from cabinet and that the Association is represented is unprecedented and a win for teachers. It reflects government’s reluctant recognition of the validity of the consistent concerns that teachers have been raising through advocacy, at the bargaining table and through the course of the recent strike. While the government refused to meaningfully address teachers’ concerns about class size and complexity in a freely bargained collective agreement, it could not escape the issue and the expectation that we have raised among Albertans that these issues will be prioritized. Because this is a cabinet committee, its deliberations are considered to
Alberta’s students deserve more. Alberta families deserve real schools, built on time. They deserve full amenities, adequate staff, and infrastructure that lasts and supports learning. The government must be honest: it has promised more than it has delivered. It’s time to acknowledge that promises are not progress. The clock is ticking, and every student without a proper desk represents a broken commitment. Parents, teachers and community members must demand accountability now. Write to your MLA, attend school board meetings and speak up in public consultations. Push for transparent timelines and accelerated construction, not just temporary fixes. Public education deserves real schools that provide a physical environment that can support teaching and learning. If the government truly values education, it’s time to prove it—not in words, but in bricks and mortar.
T here’s just not enough space. Over the past several years, Alberta has been facing an increasingly urgent school capacity crisis. In 2024, the government admitted that its previous approach to school construction needed to be changed. Schools were stuffed full, with no solution in sight. To solve the problem of overcrowded classrooms, the provincial government promised a historic investment: $8.6 billion for up to 200,000 new student spaces over seven years, including 50,000 in the initial three years under the School Construction Accelerator Program. They further pledged to build 90 new schools by 2031, with an annual commitment of approximately 30 new public schools plus charter and modernization projects beginning around the 2025/26 school year.
I welcome your comments. Contact me at kristine.wilkinson@ata.ab.ca.
Cabinet committee a win for teachers Q & A
be cabinet secrets and so we will not be receiving updates that can be shared with members. That said, the cabinet committee has been meeting frequently, and one immediate result has been the decision to resume collecting detailed class-size and composition data from schools across the province. You may recall that former Minister LaGrange’s ostrich- inspired approach to dealing with these issues was to attempt to make them go away by no longer aggregating relevant data. Teachers have every right to be skeptical about any promises made by the government about improving teaching and learning conditions, but we have created a political impetus that cannot be ignored. Furthermore, the government understands that it needs the participation of the Association to provide credibility, and Elissa Corsi has been tasked with giving voice to teachers’ views and holding the cabinet committee accountable. Ultimately, the test of the cabinet committee’s effectiveness will be its ability to drive significant improvements to teaching and learning conditions in our classrooms. We are all waiting for action. Questions for consideration in this column are welcome. Please address them to Dennis Theobald at dennis. theobald@ata.ab.ca.
Dennis Theobald ATA Executive Secretary
Question: What is this “cabinet committee” that the government has established, and why is the Association participating on it? Answer: The Class Size and Complexity Cabinet Committee was established by Premier Danielle Smith shortly after the government passed Bill 2, the Back to School Act, which ended the teachers’ strike by unilaterally imposing a settlement on the province’s teachers. The cabinet committee is mandated to address critical challenges in public schools, including overcrowded classrooms, increasing student needs (like English Language Learners) and lack of adequate support for inclusion. The cabinet committee has as its voting members the premier, who is also its chair, and four ministers holding relevant portfolios: • Demetrios Nicolaides, minister of Education and Childcare • Jason Nixon, minister of Assisted Living and Social Services • Rick Wilson, minister of Mental Health and Addiction
Ultimately, the test of the cabinet committee’s effectiveness will be its ability to drive significant improvements to teaching and learning conditions in our classrooms.
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