School districts concerned with government funding changes
Red Deer’s two largest school districts are dipping into reserves this year to offset government funding cuts.
The reductions were revealed this week through a Freedom of Information request by the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA).
ATA officials say the documents obtained by their organization show that despite government assurances of a funding freeze, school boards are slated to receive $136 million less for the 2019-2020 school year compared to the previous year.
“The premier and other government officials have painstakingly attempted to argue that operational funding has been maintained, but they pointed to the government budget document that uses a different fiscal year-end,” says Jason Schilling, ATA president, in a news release. “These documents, from the government itself, show the extent of the cuts. By forcing us to FOIP this data, I’m convinced they did not want the public to know the extent of education cuts.”