FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 06, 1998
Public money should be spent
on public education
EDMONTON -- The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour has added her voice to the growing chorus of Albertans who are opposed to government funding increases for private schools. At a noon-hour rally outside the office of the Alberta School Board Association, Audrey Cormack said she is frustrated by the provincial government's decision to increase per pupil funding for private schools by 30 per cent over the next two years. "They're talking about boosting private school funding by $5.3 million this year and even more next year," she said. "That's money that could be -- and should be -- spent on public education. It's money that could be -- and should be -- spent on teachers and resources in public classrooms." The rally was organized to show support for school custodians and maintenance workers in Calgary who have been on strike against that city's Catholic School Board. The workers are trying to win a promise from the Board that their jobs will not be privatized. Cormack said the issues at the heart of the Calgary strike are directly linked to the government's announcement on private school funding. "If the government wasn't actively promoting privatization and if they weren't under-funding our schools, then the workers in Calgary wouldn't be walking a picket line right now." Cormack called on the School Board Association to take a stronger stand in defence of public education by actively opposing the private school funding decision. She also urged ordinary Albertans to "open their eyes and see what the Klein government is doing to education in this province." "Ralph Klein's vision of a privatized, two-tier education system is not a vision shared by most Albertans," she said. "Albertans realize that a well-funded, high-quality education is the key to success for our children and for our province. Now more than ever, we have to fight to maintain that system."
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