Teachers are being stretched to the breaking point and the quality of education in Alberta is being threatened by chronic under-funding, says a report from the Alberta Teachers’ Association entitled, Falling Through the Cracks. The report is based on information gathered at over 40 public meetings held across Alberta. Thousands of teachers, students, parents, administrators, school councils and specialists made presentations and submissions to the hearings.

Falling Through the Cracks identifies critical areas in which the public system is under tremendous pressure. First and foremost, the system is increasingly suffering from chronic under-funding by the provincial government. For the past ten years, education funding has not met the increase in the inflation rate, nor has it accounted for population increase.

This under-funding is threatening the quality of public education in many different ways, according to the report. Most importantly, class sizes are too big. In some cases, as many as 35 children are being crammed into classrooms designed for 25. This can lead to physically dangerous conditions – especially in laboratory classes.The report also argues that overcrowded classroom negatively impact learning because teachers cannot spend the time needed with individual students.

The growing diversity of students, as special needs children have been integrated into classes without the necessary teaching assistance, has also placed high burdens on teachers.

Inadequate funding has been particularly troublesome in the areas of computer technology because of the expense of software, infrastructure and hardware.

Inadequate funding for renovation and maintenance has resulted in serious school environmental problems and needless long-term decay of physical structures and physical plants.

The ATA report also drew attention to growing problems in the area of curricula. Specifically, new material has been steadily added, while very little has been removed. This has resulted in overfull curricula which place intolerable stresses on both students and teachers. Moreover, when new material is added, it is all too often without the provision of adequate funding to cover the purchase of new textbooks and resources, and for professional development for teachers.