"Alberta education budget trimmed by $80M" CBC News - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

bcb · 08-27-2009, 07:37 PM

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...pay-raise.html

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He said $56 million would be cut from school boards and the rest from reductions in the provincial department.

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Hancock warned the boards to be ready for major budget cuts next year.

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Carol Henderson, president of the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA), said major cuts would almost certainly mean younger teachers will be the first to lose their positions.

This ought to boost start-of-the-school-year morale

Dan02 · 08-27-2009, 07:44 PM

me thinks this might only be the begining of the cuts, this was just 1% of the deficiet

metallicat · 08-27-2009, 08:01 PM

I have a question. I was in the Catholic system, and as far as I know, my parents had to pay for me to go to a Catholic school. If I went to a public school, it would have been free. Why don't they just start charging parents X amount to send their kids to public school? Is it really too much to ask?

bcb · 08-27-2009, 08:07 PM

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Originally Posted by oilers_fan

I have a question. I was in the Catholic system, and as far as I know, my parents had to pay for me to go to a Catholic school. If I went to a public school, it would have been free. Why don't they just start charging parents X amount to send their kids to public school? Is it really too much to ask?

No, it's not free, even for the public system. Parents pay a certain portion of their property taxes to the board their kids attend.

A common miscionception is that this is how education is funded in the province.

~95% of Education funding comes from the province, not the city.

Ironhorse · 08-27-2009, 08:10 PM

I get charged every year to send my kids to public school. It usually happens right around April every year.

troutman · 08-27-2009, 08:28 PM

The government hopes casinos will pay for it all.

ricoFlame · 08-27-2009, 08:31 PM

there are fees every year at public school, same as catholic school. they also receive the same funding from the province per student.

metallicat · 08-27-2009, 08:43 PM

Oh ok, I thought it was free. I have no kids so I've never experienced it. It was just a thought.

bcb · 08-27-2009, 08:57 PM

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Originally Posted by troutman

The government hopes casinos will pay for it all.

Well, they better not cut too deeply, unless they want 65 students in 1 class.

CrusaderPi · 08-27-2009, 09:05 PM

It sucks, but even public education has to live in the real world.

bcb · 08-27-2009, 09:56 PM

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Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

It sucks, but even public education has to live in the real world.

True enough, but look in our city's high schools, and the reality is that the classrooms are packed and school budgets are already strained. Any cuts, and the quality of education goes way down.

Another thing that gets me is that this province has been rolling in the money for over a decade now. Has there been such fiscal mismanagement that the province can't even weather a year-long recession?

I'm probably not the only one asking this question.

Azure · 08-27-2009, 10:31 PM

They should cut royalty fees and encourage investment....and then ride out the recession.

RougeUnderoos · 08-27-2009, 11:13 PM

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Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

It sucks, but even public education has to live in the real world.

The "real world" not so long ago was billions in surpluses.

If the provincial government had the slightest clue, we wouldn't find ourselves having to chop kindergarten funding.

Alberta is like the professional athlete who ends up bankrupt.

Stelmach is like the ###### who ends up ######eder.

SebC · 08-27-2009, 11:24 PM

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Originally Posted by oilers_fan

I have a question. I was in the Catholic system, and as far as I know, my parents had to pay for me to go to a Catholic school. If I went to a public school, it would have been free. Why don't they just start charging parents X amount to send their kids to public school? Is it really too much to ask?

Better yet, why don't they stop funding opt-in religious education? Oh wait... there's that whole constitution thing!

wooohooo · 08-27-2009, 11:39 PM

Of all the budget cuts needed to be made, I really don't think it should come from Education. There's a lack of teachers (they don't make all that much to begin with), the schools are falling apart, and too many students. Start cutting down on these, and our 'future' will start looking pretty bleak.

The cuts should come from Health care and whatever else. Doctors IMO make way too much money. 1 Doctor could probably pay for 4-5 teachers. I truly believe the gong show is from health care. It's one of the biggest uses of money, but yet it is also one of the most lacking areas in our system. Fix that, and life will be a lot better.

FiftyBelow · 08-28-2009, 12:25 AM

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Originally Posted by wooohooo

Of all the budget cuts needed to be made, I really don't think it should come from Education. There's a lack of teachers (they don't make all that much to begin with), the schools are falling apart, and too many students. Start cutting down on these, and our 'future' will start looking pretty bleak.

The cuts should come from Health care and whatever else. Doctors IMO make way too much money. 1 Doctor could probably pay for 4-5 teachers. I truly believe the gong show is from health care. It's one of the biggest uses of money, but yet it is also one of the most lacking areas in our system. Fix that, and life will be a lot better.

While I agree the cuts shouldn't come from Education... it wouldn't help too cut funds from Health care either. The province is already short in health care professionals... reducing doctors' pay would only encourage them to pack their bags and leave for the US.

wooohooo · 08-28-2009, 12:39 AM

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Originally Posted by FiftyBelow

While I agree the cuts shouldn't come from Education... it wouldn't help too cut funds from Health care either. The province is already short in health care professionals... reducing doctors' pay would only encourage them to pack their bags and leave for the US.

I agree with that. I was just kinda saying, but they do make a ridiculous amount of money. Any fix is not going to be a straight forward one but there are plenty within each field that we can do.

RougeUnderoos · 08-28-2009, 01:17 AM

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Originally Posted by wooohooo

1 Doctor could probably pay for 4-5 teachers.

How much do doctors in Alberta make?

I really don't know, but I'm sure that 4 or 5 rookie teachers collectively make a hell of a lot more than one old doctor who is at the top of the heap.

Neither should have to be cut at all, but since our government sucks, here we go again.

All those sacrifices Ralph put us through were apparently for naught.

Out of debt and the good times roll and everyone is happy and then bang, back in the hole.

Good work.

wooohooo · 08-28-2009, 01:33 AM

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Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

How much do doctors in Alberta make?

I really don't know, but I'm sure that 4 or 5 rookie teachers collectively make a hell of a lot more than one old doctor who is at the top of the heap.

Neither should have to be cut at all, but since our government sucks, here we go again.

All those sacrifices Ralph put us through were apparently for naught.

Out of debt and the good times roll and everyone is happy and then bang, back in the hole.

Good work.

Well of course I was exaggerating a bit but I would estimate a Rookie teacher makes around $40 000. A Doctor depending on his specialty can make over $150 000. So maybe I wasn't exaggerating all that much. I personally know GP that make over $400 000, but they own their own clinic so that's different.

bomber317 · 08-28-2009, 08:24 AM

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Originally Posted by wooohooo

Well of course I was exaggerating a bit but I would estimate a Rookie teacher makes around $40 000. A Doctor depending on his specialty can make over $150 000. So maybe I wasn't exaggerating all that much. I personally know GP that make over $400 000, but they own their own clinic so that's different.

Actually, new teachers start around 50k ish. I don't remember the exact figure, but I think it was mid-50s.

Teachers aren't "poor" but the amount of work and time they put in even with the 2 months off makes their "hourly" pay not that great.

My gf is a teacher, but she got surplused this year. So she's going to be subbing. But the stories that she's been hearing from her old school has been a gong show due to the monetary restrictions.

I'm not sure how big the classes are this year, but she was teaching classes of 35+, which I thought was really high. When I was in high school, classes were around 25-30, back in the late 90's.