Alberta teachers gather in Calgary for weekend meetings to talk budget, classroom safety and policy

Jason Schilling, the president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, says teachers are seeing some of the largest classes in their careers during the first week of classes this month.

More than 400 teachers from across the province were in Calgary this weekend for the Alberta Teacher’s Association annual general meeting.

Topics include the budget, teacher safety, and the ongoing battle with the province over policy.

Teachers from the Catholic, public and francophone school districts gathered at the Hyatt Hotel for the ATA’s annual general meeting.

ATA president Jason Schilling preached unity among teachers, after their battle with the provincial government that included being forced back to work through the use of the notwithstanding clause.

“Teachers have shown through the job action that they put in October that they’re not afraid to stand united and stand up for the things that they believe in, to stand up for kids in their classrooms and for themselves,” said Schilling.

He also addressed Bill 25, a provincial law calling for the removal of politics and ideology from classrooms and the amending of the Education Act.

Schilling said they’ll have to see the regulations but believes the new bill will have a chilling effect.

“We know that teachers are going to not be forthcoming in the information that they want to share with kids for fear of being recorded,” Schilling said. “And that’s put out there by, you know, some right-wing podcasters that want to make an issue of stuff..”

AI concerns

The growth of artificial intelligence is also garnering responses from teachers.

Local 55 president Lee Martin worries that AI may do more harm than good.

“We’re talking about the anthropomorphic AI,” Martin said. “So children actually getting emotional responses from AI. And like we would go on a field trip with vetted adults, we wouldn’t let AI just say anything to children.”

Schilling said teachers are working in a vacuum when it comes to setting policy on AI use.

“These companies that are going to mine this data for other purposes. We’re very much aware of that, but we’re also very much absent of guidelines and policies in this province. And so teachers are leading the charge on that.”

Teachers are also cautiously optimistic about a recent funding announcement that would mean 1,400 new teachers this fall.

“We can’t just do a one year announcement of funding for more teachers as a Band-Aid approach and then not have that continue on into other budget years,” he said.

The Canadian Teachers Federation also conducted a survey that showed a whopping 80 per cent of teachers are also dealing with violence in the classroom, something they hope the province can also look into.