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
February 3, 2026
Volume 60, Number 8
Helping our communities help public education
EDITORIAL
principal in a small community school. When a local industrial site decided to donate its recycled bottle money, it transformed $20,000 of waste into brand new basketball hoops for our students.That opportunity came about because a school council member casually mentioned a school need to a friend. Without that conversation, the school would not have benefited. When our new playground needed assembly (and if you know, you know), a local service club didn’t just send a cheque—they showed up in work boots and spent their weekend bolting slides together. Even more powerful was seeing a local pipeline company send a crew to rake the playground sand, with many volunteers being former students of the very school they were helping. The investments community members make in our schools show they care about public education. And we need more than teachers and parents to share their voices in support. By getting involved in our public schools, businesses and service clubs are not only donating time or labour by reallocating about $5 million internally, effectively the SEF has been fully depleted. Restoring it on an expedited basis is important to send a strong signal to the government and school boards about teachers’capacity and intention to return to bargaining from a position of strength at the expiry of the legislated settlement. Furthermore, it will provide the means to fund activities in advance of the next round of bargaining to build greater Association capacity and build public support for teachers. Now, those who follow this column closely (all three of you), may recall that I had dealt with this scenario previously and had indicated that decisions about replenishing the SEF would ultimately be made by the Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) through the Association’s budget process. Although this has been our practice over the years, there is another provision in the general bylaws of the Association that I had not fully considered in my previous answer but has now come into play. Bylaw 11 allows Provincial Executive Council, when it believes that an emergency exists, to authorize, at its own discretion, the collection of an additional fee not exceeding $20 per week per member during the continuance of the emergency and for so long thereafter as it deems advisable, adding the fees collected to the SEF. This provision was last
but also gaining a front-row seat to the incredible work teachers and school leaders do every day. Trustees, school council members and local business owners are some of our most important allies, but they can’t advocate for what they don’t understand. When we stay isolated in our buildings, we allow the story of public education to be written by budget spreadsheets and headlines instead of lived experience. Every conversation with trustees, business leaders and community members matters. It isn’t just “small talk”; it’s an opportunity to provide the human context for why public education matters. You are showing them exactly why their taxes and donations toward public education are the best investment a community can make. When they know you, they are no longer just supporting a system; they are supporting you and your students. Maintaining strong public support for our schools requires us to be visible. We need to be the faces of the profession in the places where used over two decades ago, but for a relatively short period of time and in close proximity to the provincially coordinated local labour action of 2002. By means of a weighted vote, Council decided that the current circumstances justified making novel use of bylaw 11 to levy a fee of $10 per week ($40 per month) beginning in February 2026. The fee, half of the maximum permitted under the bylaw, would be collected for up to 16 months, by which point the SEF would be restored to prestrike levels. Recognizing that members had made a substantial financial sacrifice during the strike, Council has determined that it will not seek to collect regular Association fees for the month of October 2025. Under the Teaching Profession Act , the regular Association fees are set on an annual basis by ARA. Amending the fees for 2025/26 to reflect the decision not to collect the money that would be owed for October 2025 will require some fancy procedural footwork, likely including the convening of an emergent representative assembly concurrent with ARA 2026. More information will be forthcoming to ARA delegates in the next month or so. This approach to managing the replenishment of the SEF has the advantage of being more transparent, flexible and less distorting of Association finances than collecting
decisions are made. Stepping outside the classroom takes effort, but the payoff is a community ready to fight for us when it counts. We can start by showing up.Attend a school council meeting.You don’t need a presentation; just be there to share a quick “win” from your classroom. The next time your local holds an event, invite a trustee and let them see the passion of the profession first-hand. Join a local board, a service club or a community group. Be the person who can answer questions about what’s actually happening in our schools today. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a teacher to show the village how they can help. Let’s stop working in isolation and start building a team that has our backs. Our community is ready—to help with playgrounds, volunteer for hot lunches and stand up for our schools. We just need to make sure we’re opening the door.
Kristine Wilkinson ATA News Editor-in-Chief
T eaching can sometimes feel like a solo sport. We spend our days tucked away in our classrooms, focused entirely on the students in front of us. In the rush of lesson plans and grading,“community engagement” can sound like a buzzword—or worse, a chore we simply don’t have time for. But it’s time to shift that perspective. Engaging with the groups around us isn’t just about public relations; it’s about building a support system that makes our jobs more sustainable. When we bridge the gap between our schools and the broader community, we stop carrying the entire weight of the system on our own shoulders. Real, tangible change often starts with something as simple as a conversation. I’ve seen this first-hand when I was a
I welcome your comments. Contact me at kristine.wilkinson@ata.ab.ca.
Rebuilding the Special Emergency Fund a priority in the wake of the 2025 strike Q & A
similar funds by means of a conventional fee increase. It will also provide for a clear direction forward on an issue that has captured the attention of locals, seven of which have submitted ARA resolutions proposing diverse and conflicting solutions. Most importantly, the rapid replenishment of the Association’s fiscal capacity will be essential to positioning teachers and doing essential groundwork in advance of what will likely prove a contentious round of collective bargaining, which will be in full swing in 2028. While the temporary fee will address the immediate problem and secure the SEF for the immediate future, there remain other more fundamental questions concerning the purpose, deployment and size of the SEF that teachers may wish to address through Council, their locals and ARA.
Dennis Theobald ATA Executive Secretary
Question: Why is the Association going to charge me $40 more per month in dues? Answer: At its January meeting, Provincial Executive Council had to deal with a thorny question—how to restore the Association’s financial capacity following our provincewide labour action. Going into the strike on October 6, 2025, the Special Emergency Fund (SEF), used to fund extraordinary bargaining and strike-related expenses, stood at $25.5 million dollars. Although the Association did not distribute strike pay, it committed to maintaining health benefit coverage for all teachers for the duration of the strike. By the time the strike ended by the passage of Bill 2 on October 27, the Association was on the hook for $24 million of benefit payments alone, with other expenditures relating to communications, advertising and strike support bringing the total dollars committed to between $25 and $26 million. While the Association will cover a portion of the costs incurred
Find an extended Q&A on the ATA’s website here:
Questions for consideration in this column are welcome. Please address them to Dennis Theobald at dennis. theobald@ata.ab.ca.
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