Rachel Notley (CP)

By Troy Gillard

15,000 new students on the way

Notley say she’ll hire more teachers, build more schools

Mar 28, 2019 | 6:20 PM

EDMONTON – Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley is promising to hire nearly 1,000 more teachers this fall if her party returns to power after the April 16 election.

Notley says an additional 15,000 students are projected to be in classrooms when the next school year starts and it’s critical to give them the supports they need.

She says an NDP government would hire 600 teachers and another 400 would come through a $23-million increase in the province’s classroom improvement fund.

The fund is delivered to schools based on student enrolment and is meant to help retain teachers, hire new ones and pay for resources to help students with complex needs.

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Notley is also promising that the NDP would spend $1.3 billion to build and upgrade another 70 schools.

There would also be money to ensure every new and modernized school came with a playground.

Another $5 million a year would go to replace 100 aging and outdated play areas.

“Every single day, people come up to me and they talk about their kids, our schools and their hopes for the future,” said Notley. “As your premier, I will make sure that every child that enters school has a teacher to greet them. Our kids deserve nothing less.”

(The Canadian Press)