Conservatives must stop penalizing urban schools
For immediate release | January 30, 2012
Alberta’s NDP Opposition education critic Rachel Notley says New Democrats are committing to giving urban schools the funding they need to stay open, and is challenging Premier Redford to do the same.
A Edmonton Public School Board committee report outlines how the Conservative government is unfairly underfunding urban schools and identifies several ways to help prevent further school closures.
“The challenge of building community in urban neighbourhoods is complex. But the Conservative government’s refusal to act makes the cost of fixing the problem grow the longer they ignore it. Meanwhile, Alberta’s urban families pay the price,” Notley says.
The report makes clear the Conservatives pupil/space funding formula doesn’t account for the more spacious design and higher maintenance costs of older schools versus new schools. Because older schools cost more per student to operate, yet are funded the same as new schools, the table is slanted against them.
“Older schools have wider hallways. That’s not a bad thing, yet it means older schools get less funding than new schools that have less space inside because the Conservative government measures space per student,” says Notley. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Alberta’s New Democrats want to make mature neighbourhoods family friendly by keeping schools open.
-30-