Subhead:Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides tells Rebel News the Alberta Teachers’ Association is becoming “more involved” in “policy conversations” that “don’t affect public education or publicly certified teachers.”#
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Alberta’s education system has been under intense scrutiny. Months of public tension, political debate and a provincewide teachers’ strike have brought the issue into focus for just about everyone in Alberta.
While unions continue to raise concerns over funding and compensation, parents and taxpayers are questioning accountability and students’ outcomes.
With that as the backdrop, Rebel News spoke to Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting.
We asked Nicolaides if he felt the Alberta Teachers’ Association has become more of a lobbying body than a regulatory one, given its political involvement.
“They’re certainly getting involved more often,” he said, pointing to ATA president Jason Schilling encouraging teachers to sign up as canvassers for left-wing campaigns. The union has engaged in more “policy conversations in areas that don’t affect public education or publicly certified teachers.”
We also pressed the education minister on whether the UCP government would take any action on political symbols being displayed in public classrooms.
