It's interesting to compare people's emotional intuitions of public spending to empirical data. When spending increases annually for many years, nobody notices. When the gap between spending and revenues grows wider and wider, few seem to care. But when efforts are made to narrow that gap, a narrative emerges that governments have been reducing spending for years.
But we don't have to rely on our intuitions (or anecdotes from hockey pool buddies) on these matters. The data is all publicly accessible.
From 2012/13 to 2016/17, Alberta's public education spending increased by 21.3 per cent, while enrollment increased by 10.3 per cent. Per student spending increased by 10 per cent to $14,456, third highest in Canada, and higher than B.C. ($11,879), Quebec ($11,543), or Ontario ($13,895).
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-s...says-1.4727759
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/site...hools-2020.pdf
(Yes, I know the report is from the Fraser institute. But whatever the spin, the data is real).
Which isn't to say we shouldn't spend more on education, if that's what the public wants. But if the public wants to increase education spending at even higher rates than we've been increasing spending over the last couple decades, the public has to be willing to pay higher taxes. Especially in Alberta, where the loss of energy royalties has left a gaping hole in provincial budgets.