Over 800 gather in support of teachers in Grande Prairie, teachers expected to be legislated back to work

By Jesse Boily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Town & Country News

Over 800 people gathered in support of teachers at the Fight For Education Rally at CKC field in Grande Prairie on Sunday morning. 

Teachers have been on a province-wide strike since Oct. 6. 

“This is a group of individuals, workers who feel disrespected by the province for the decisions that they made over the last several years, like cutting them out of the curriculum process, hijacking their pension, and just the book ban nonsense that we saw this summer, so government still has work to do in terms of rebuilding that respect of teachers,” Jason Schilling, Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) president, said in an interview with the News at the rally. 

Supporters clad in red listened to teachers, parents, students and union members speak, sharing their experiences in classrooms.

“We are at a breaking point,” said St. Catherine Catholic School teacher Lisa Teichroeb to the crowd.

“Our classes are more complex than they have ever been, and class sizes in many of our schools are unimaginable.

“How is it even possible to have a solid interaction each day with each student when you’re teaching 30 plus students in a class?” 

Teichroeb said she is often shocked at what provincial leaders in press conferences say about teachers. 

She notes that after 31 years of teaching, she does not make what Premier Danielle Smith says teachers do.

“Today, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our teachers; when they fight for better classrooms, they’re fighting for our kids,” said parent Casey Klein.

She said that she and other parents have been meeting up during the strike to help teach their children. 

“It takes multiple parents helping each other to get a handful of kids a few hours of learning, and yet every single day, our teachers do this work alone,” she said.

“It’s just one teacher in one classroom carrying the weight of 20 to 30 kids, all the different needs, challenges, abilities.”

Schilling spoke to the crowd, saying teachers are facing many issues in the classroom and are being asked to do more with fewer resources. 

He said more investment into education is needed and that the province is currently trying to divide people, while being the least funded school jurisdiction in Canada. 

“The government’s failing all of us, by ignoring teachers, principals, education systems, parents, and students, the people who actually know what schools need,” said Schilling.

After the speeches, supporters left the field and walked along a path next to Hwy. 40.

Back to work?

In a joint statement from Premier Smith, Minister of Finance Nate Horner and Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides say that if the ATA continues the strike, the province will consider further options to bring it to an end. 

Smith said if students are not back in the classroom this week, Albertans can “fully expect” legislation to come during the week of Oct. 27 when the legislature returns to session. 

“We’ll see what happens on the 27th, what the legislation, if they’re going to do it, what it looks like, and then we’ll just handle that from that point on,” said Schilling, noting the best outcome would be for a negotiated settlement.

The province announced on Oct. 17 that November’s diploma exams will be optional for students. Students who do not write will receive a final grade based entirely on the school-awarded grade. 

The province says “choosing not to write the November diploma exams will not affect a student’s ability to apply to, be accepted by, or attend post-secondary institutions after graduation.”