Local residents hold rally in support of teachers’ strike

From left, Anne McIntosh, Heidi Bergstrom, Tawnya Williamson and Lucy Ernst.
By Nadine Leming
A large crowd gathered at the pavilion at Mirror Lake to support the grass-roots rally organized by local parents. The purpose of the rally was to raise awareness around properly funded public education, respect for teachers and resources.
Heidi Bergstrom, one of the rally organizers, said, “We wanted to bring like- minded people together to show support for teachers, as well as send a message to the government that they work for us and we want you to listen to what we want, which is well-funded public education and to value teachers and students.”
During her speech prior to the rally, Heidi stated, “Alberta has one of the lowest per student funding in all of Canada and it needs to be better.” She thanked the crowd for helping to send that message. Attendees were encouraged to call or email local representatives, the minister of education, the minister of finance and the premier.
QR codes were available for people to scan that would take them to a pre-populated letter in their email app addressed to leaders mentioned above as well as the NDP critic for education.
A letter by a local teacher Daylan Wizniuk was shared with the crowd gathered at the rally. In the letter, he shared that, as a child growing up, he had access to the “Alberta Advantage”, with a world renowned education system. Teachers had the professional autonomy to teach the curriculum in a way that was effective. The letter continued by saying today we have the lowest per student funding in the country, larger class sizes with less educational assistant (EA) support and less resources for students.
In his letter, Daylan continued that, in 2015, he had 25 students per class, 50 per cent EA support, flex teachers to support students with behaviour complexities and other resources to assist in student learning. Today, he has 30 students in his class, very little EA time, flex programs are gone, learning facilitators are gone, and the curriculum has been weakened with working hours pushed to the limit.
The letter stated this means each student receives less support, less resources to engage students and the ability to provide textbooks and computers to students is less. It means diverse learners are being left behind. Daylan said in the letter that he feels that today, students are not receiving the same support he did, nor the same support students received 10 years ago.
He stated that the road to return to what was the province’s high educational standards will be hard, time consuming and costly, but our children and future are worth it. That is why he believes in this job action.
Heidi also read a statement from NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi encouraging Albertans to stand up for public education, smaller classrooms, better supports and resources. The letter also stated that students deserve better than the lowest education funding in the country.
After all speeches were presented, the crowd marched along 48 Avenue for approximately 90 minutes, holding signs in support of teachers.
A media release from the office of Nate Horner, minister of the treasury board and finance, states that in the 2025 budget, the current school year received $55 million to address classroom complexity, a 20 per cent increase from last year. The release also included that the government is offering to invest $2.6 billion as part of the deal for teachers.
Minister Horner said in the release, “We have consistently met the ATA at the table. The last deal was put forward by the ATA based on what they said Alberta’s teachers wanted. This was clearly not the case. We believe it’s time the ATA consult directly with their teachers to put together a deal that will actually work for you. We are ready, willing and able to review any commonsense proposals by the ATA in the coming days.”
By Nadine Leming
A large crowd gathered at the pavilion at Mirror Lake to support the grass-roots rally organized by local parents. The purpose of the rally was to raise awareness around properly funded public education, respect for teachers and resources.
Heidi Bergstrom, one of the rally organizers, said, “We wanted to bring like- minded people together to show support for teachers, as well as send a message to the government that they work for us and we want you to listen to what we want, which is well-funded public education and to value teachers and students.”
During her speech prior to the rally, Heidi stated, “Alberta has one of the lowest per student funding in all of Canada and it needs to be better.” She thanked the crowd for helping to send that message. Attendees were encouraged to call or email local representatives, the minister of education, the minister of finance and the premier.
QR codes were available for people to scan that would take them to a pre-populated letter in their email app addressed to leaders mentioned above as well as the NDP critic for education.
A letter by a local teacher Daylan Wizniuk was shared with the crowd gathered at the rally. In the letter, he shared that, as a child growing up, he had access to the “Alberta Advantage”, with a world renowned education system. Teachers had the professional autonomy to teach the curriculum in a way that was effective. The letter continued by saying today we have the lowest per student funding in the country, larger class sizes with less educational assistant (EA) support and less resources for students.
In his letter, Daylan continued that, in 2015, he had 25 students per class, 50 per cent EA support, flex teachers to support students with behaviour complexities and other resources to assist in student learning. Today, he has 30 students in his class, very little EA time, flex programs are gone, learning facilitators are gone, and the curriculum has been weakened with working hours pushed to the limit.
The letter stated this means each student receives less support, less resources to engage students and the ability to provide textbooks and computers to students is less. It means diverse learners are being left behind. Daylan said in the letter that he feels that today, students are not receiving the same support he did, nor the same support students received 10 years ago.
He stated that the road to return to what was the province’s high educational standards will be hard, time consuming and costly, but our children and future are worth it. That is why he believes in this job action.
Heidi also read a statement from NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi encouraging Albertans to stand up for public education, smaller classrooms, better supports and resources. The letter also stated that students deserve better than the lowest education funding in the country.
After all speeches were presented, the crowd marched along 48 Avenue for approximately 90 minutes, holding signs in support of teachers.
A media release from the office of Nate Horner, minister of the treasury board and finance, states that in the 2025 budget, the current school year received $55 million to address classroom complexity, a 20 per cent increase from last year. The release also included that the government is offering to invest $2.6 billion as part of the deal for teachers.
Minister Horner said in the release, “We have consistently met the ATA at the table. The last deal was put forward by the ATA based on what they said Alberta’s teachers wanted. This was clearly not the case. We believe it’s time the ATA consult directly with their teachers to put together a deal that will actually work for you. We are ready, willing and able to review any commonsense proposals by the ATA in the coming days.”