Negotiations between ATA and Red Deer Catholic Schools go public

It may be a simple misunderstanding, but it also may be a negotiating tactic. Either way, the Alberta Teachers Association has issued a news release claiming Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools may be considering a lockout. Less than a day after that release came out, Red Deer Catholic Schools issued its own release to clearly explain the situation to the public as they see it.

Here are the two releases:

From the Alberta Teachers Association

Teachers Worried about Red Deer Catholic Moving towards Lockout

Recent actions to sidestep the third-party independent mediator in Red Deer Catholic (RDCRS) teacher negotiations are a troubling sign of things to come. RDCRS board negotiators have taken the unusual step of asking the mediator to remove herself from bargaining even though two dates for mediation were already scheduled.

By asking the mediator to write out, the board has kicked off a two-week cooling off period that lapses on March 12, and opens the door to the board locking out teachers.

“Our desire has always been to reach an agreement without a disruption to schools. Fifty-eight of 61 school divisions have a deal, so we know an agreement is very much achievable if we just use those other settlements as a guide. We strongly believe the mediator will be helpful in getting the parties to a settlement.”

—Sara Lambert, president of Red Deer Catholic Local No 80

While teacher representatives have agreed to bargain on the scheduled mediation dates, they are worried that the board, absent the mediator, is planning to waste time and thwart a settlement. Bargaining will be held on March 7, but teachers have only agreed to continue meeting on March 8 if it is clear that the board is prepared to make meaningful progress on the first day.

“If the board intends to get down to the business of bargaining, we can get a deal done this week. That is what we want. However, if it looks like the board is wasting our time, playing games and ignoring the trend set across the rest of the province, there is no point continuing.”

—Sara Lambert, president of Red Deer Catholic Local No 80

Red Deer Catholic teachers are looking for a settlement that reflects the agreements reached in other jurisdictions, which includes improvements on issues related to substitute teachers and school administrators. The solutions being proposed are low cost and reasonable.

Collective bargaining for teachers in Alberta is a two-phase process where matters of significant cost and broad impact are negotiated at a central table, followed by local negotiations between individual school divisions and ATA bargaining units on other more locally specific matters.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association is the professional association of teachers in Alberta and acts as the bargaining agent for all teachers employed in public, separate and francophone school divisions. The Red Deer Catholic School Division employs approximately 700 contracted and substitute teachers in Catholic schools in Red Deer, Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail and Olds.

———

Reply from Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Reacts to Recent ATA Media Release

For immediate release – March 6, 2024

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) announced, in a surprise media release late yesterday, that Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) is sidestepping “the third-party independent mediator … in teacher negotiations”. Nothing could be further from the truth.

On February 26, 2024, in an email from the mediator to both the ATA and RDCRS, the mediator stated,

“Further to my phone calls with each of you on Friday, I understand that the Employer reviewed the “binary choice” in Sean’s email of February 15, 2024, and agreed the next step should be for the mediator to write out and let the cooling off period begin. However, I understand the Employer is willing to meet with the ATA, without the mediator, on March 7 and 8, 2024 during the hours previously discussed (evening and day).”

The mediator further stated in that email correspondence,

“I have decided to not issue recommended terms of settlement at this time as I feel the parties are too far apart in their current positions. Attached is the letter confirming this decision”.

The email the mediator is referring to on February 15, 2024, came from the ATA chief negotiator, Sean Brown, in which he referred to a “binary choice” as follows,

“Given the results of the meeting and the sentiments shared by members, I believe the next step is a binary choice:

The employer bargaining team returns to the table and listens to its teachers. Furthermore, that the employer be prepared to move on the items that members need. (Our preferred option), or
The mediator will need to write out and the two-week cooling off period will commence.

We hope to hear back that the employer will return to the table. If not, then they will leave teachers with few options.”

Vice Chair Dorraine Lonsdale states, “RDCRS believes that factual reporting of events, activities, and matters pertinent to our local teacher negotiations with the ATA is now necessary for our communities to understand what is involved in these local teacher negotiations. To this end, RDCRS has opened a section of our website to report to our communities on our local teacher negotiations. Information will be shared on a regular basis as we continue to negotiate with the ATA.”

The bargaining team for RDCRS will attend the scheduled meetings on March 7 and 8, 2024 and bargain with the ATA to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable to both parties.

“It is the intention of RDCRS to continue a principled and respectful approach while bargaining the local items tabled by both parties. The school division highly values its teachers and in addition, we are responsible to students, parents, and our communities,” Vice Chair Lonsdale continues. “RDCRS has a duty to preserve our programs and services, to manage our complex education system and to be financially accountable for our decisions. These three pillars extend also to our bargaining of collective agreements affecting our employees. RDCRS takes these responsibilities seriously, and these responsibilities always remain an important part of our considerations.”

The Division is committed to serving children and parents with a complete offering of learning opportunities delivered within the context of Catholic teachings and within the means of the Division.

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools serves over 10,650 students in 21 schools in Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail, Blackfalds and Olds. It also supports the learning of over 850 students in a Home Education Program. The Division is committed to serving children and parents with a complete offering of learning opportunities delivered within the context of Catholic teachings and within the means of the Division.

Related Topics:#AlbertaTeachersAssociation #RedDeerCatholicRegionalSchools ATA feature RDCRS

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Education

Parents should oppose any plans to replace the ABCs with vague terminology in schools

Published on January 2, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Paige MacPherson

According to a recent poll, the vast majority of parents in Canada easily understand letter grades on report cards but are confused by the nouveau “descriptive” grading adopted in British Columbia. This should serve as a warning to any province or school board thinking about adopting this type of convoluted descriptive grading.

In September 2023, despite overwhelming opposition from British Columbians, the B.C. government replaced letter grades—such as A, B, C, D, etc.—on K-9 report cards with a “proficiency scale,” which includes the descriptive terms “emerging,” “developing,” “proficient” and “extending.” If these four terms seem confusing to you, you’re not alone.

According to the recent poll (conducted by Leger and commissioned by the Fraser Institute), 93 per cent of Canadian parents from coast to coast said the letter grade “A” was “clear and easy” to understand while 83 per cent said the letter grade “C” was “clear and easy” to understand. (For the sake of brevity, the poll only asked respondents about these two letter grades.)

By contrast, 58 per cent of Canadian parents said the descriptive grade “extending” was “unclear and difficult” to understand and only 26 per cent could correctly identify what “extending” means on a report card.

It was a similar story for the descriptive grade “emerging,” as 57 per cent of Canadian parents said the term was “unclear and difficult” to understand and only 28 per cent could correctly identify what “emerging” means on a report card.

It’s also worth noting that the poll simplified the definitions of the four “descriptive” grading terms. The B.C. government’s official definitions, which can be found on the government’s website, speak for themselves. For example: “Extending is not synonymous with perfection. A student is Extending when they demonstrate learning, in relation to learning standards, with increasing depth and complexity. Extending is not a bonus or a reward and does not necessarily require that students do a greater volume of work or work at a higher grade level. Extending is not the goal for all students; Proficient is. Therefore, if a student turns in all their work and demonstrates evidence of learning in all learning standards for an area of learning, they are not automatically assigned Extending.”

So, what are the consequences of this confusing gobbledygook? Well, we already have some anecdotes.

Before the B.C. government made the changes provincewide, the Surrey School District participated in a pilot program to gauge the effectiveness of descriptive grading. According to Elenore Sturko, a Conservative MLA in Surrey and mother of three, for three years her daughter’s report cards said she was “emerging” rather than clearly stating she was failing. Sturko was unaware there was a problem until the child’s Third Grade teacher called to tell Sturko that her daughter was reading at a Kindergarten level.

Former B.C. education minister Rachna Singh tried to justify the change saying descriptive grading would help students become “better prepared for the outside world” where you “don’t get feedback in letters.” But parents in B.C. clearly aren’t happy.

Of course, other provinces also use terms in their grading systems (meeting expectations, exceeding expectations, satisfactory, needs improvement, etc.) in addition to letter grades. But based on this polling data, the descriptive grading now used in B.C.—which again, has completely replaced letter grades—makes it much harder for B.C. parents to understand how their children are doing in school. The B.C. government should take a red pen to this confusing new policy before it does any more damage. And parents across the country should keep a watchful eye on their local school boards for any plans to replace the ABCs with vague terminology open to interpretation.

Alberta

Parents in every province—not just Alberta—deserve as much school choice as possible

Published on December 3, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Michael Zwaagstra

Not only does Alberta have a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, it also provides between 60 and 70 per cent operational funding to accredited independent schools. In addition, Alberta is the only province in Canada to allow fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents.

This week, the Smith government in Alberta will likely pass Bill 27, which requires schools to get signed permission from parents or guardians prior to any lessons on human sexuality, gender identity or sexual orientation.

It’s a sensible move. The government is proactively ensuring that students are in these classes because their parents want them there. Given the sensitive nature of these topics, for everyone’s sake it makes sense to ensure parental buy-in at the outset.

Unfortunately, many school trustees don’t agree. A recent resolution passed by the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) calls on the Smith government to maintain the status quo where parents are assumed to have opted in to these lessons unless they contact the school and opt their children out. Apparently, the ASBA thinks parents can’t be trusted to make the right decisions for their children on this issue.

This ASBA resolution is, in fact, a good example of the reflexive opposition by government school trustees to parental rights. They don’t want parents to take control of their children’s education, especially in sensitive areas. Fortunately, the Alberta government rebuffed ASBA’s demands and this attempt to abolish Bill 27 will likely fall on deaf ears.

However, there’s an even better safeguard available to Alberta parents—school choice. Out of all Canadian provinces, Alberta offers the most school choice. Not only does Alberta have a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, it also provides between 60 and 70 per cent operational funding to accredited independent schools. In addition, Alberta is the only province in Canada to allow fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents. Simply put, parents who are dissatisfied with the government school system have plenty of options—more than parents in any other province. This means Alberta parents can vote with their feet.

Things are quite different in other parts of the country. For example, Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces do not allow any provincial funding to follow students to independent schools. In other words, parents in these provinces who choose an independent school must pay the full cost themselves—while still paying taxes that fund government schools. And no province other than Alberta allows charter schools.

This is why it’s important to give parents as much school choice as possible. Given the tendency of government school boards to remove choices from parents, it’s important that all parents, including those with limited means, have other options available for their children.

Imagine if the owners of a large grocery store tried to impose their dietary preferences by removing all meat products and telling customers that the only way they could purchase meat is to make a special order. What would happen in that scenario? It depends on what other options are available. If this was the only grocery store in the community, customers would have no choice but to comply. However, if there were other stores, customers could simply shop elsewhere. Choice empowers people and limits the ability of one company to limit the choices of people who live in the community.

Think of government school boards as a monopolistic service provider like a grocery store. They often do everything possible to prevent parents from going anywhere else for their children’s education. Trusting them to do what’s best for parents and children is like assuming that the owners of a grocery store would always put the interests of their customers first and not their own self-interest. Monopolies are bad in the private sector and they’re bad in the education sector, too.

Clearly, it makes sense to require schools to get proactive consent from parents. This ensures maximum buy-in from parents for whatever courses their children take. It’s also important that Alberta remains a bastion of school choice. By making it easier for parents to choose from a variety of education options, Alberta puts power in the hands of parents, exactly where it belongs. Parents in other provinces should want that same power, too.