A wage increase for teachers in public schools across the province has Clearview School Division officials wondering how to cover the costs.
At its regular board meeting in January, trustees and administration expressed their concerns they plan to share with Education Dave Hancock.
“As we shared with our school communities last fall any debate concerning the amount of increase will be settled at the provincial level,” said Ken Checkel, who chairs the board.
Now that the arbitrator’s decision has been announced, the board will discuss the situation at its next regular meeting on Feb. 18.
“At this time, we are told that Alberta Education will not be sending additional funding to school divisions to cover this increase over the 4.82 per cent previously funded,” said Checkel.
“We have been told by Minister Hancock that he will take the request for increased funding to the government’s Treasury Board.”
“We are hopeful that we will hear positive news about funding in April. In the meantime, we don’t want this issue to affect the strong commitment of the Clearview board and teachers to delivering a great education to all students.”
In 2007, the provincial government reached a memorandum of understanding with Alberta’s teachers to create a long term (five-year) agreement that would not only determine a mechanism for future wage increases, but also resolve a long standing dispute related to teacher pensions.
As part of that agreement, the decision was made to use the Alberta Average Weekly Earnings Index (AAWEI) in determining teacher wage increases.
Due to a dispute between the Alberta government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association over interpretation of the index, an arbitrator was appointed to settle the matter.
The arbitrator, Andrew C. L. Sims, Q.C., ruled that teachers working in the province’s public, separate and francophone schools should receive an increase amounting to 5.99 per cent for the 2009-2010 school year, reflecting the average increase in the weekly earnings of Albertans from 2008 to 2009.
For more detailed information on the arbitrator’s ruling visit http://www.education.alberta.ca/media/1211503/aaweedecision.pdf
