As a parent and teacher I’m excited to be running for school board trustee in the Lethbridge Public School Division.
I’ve been a teacher since 2010 and during time as elementary and high school teacher I witnessed first hand the deteriorating conditions within the education system in Alberta. I know we can do better.
Here are my priorities as a trustee:
- Inclusion for our most vulnerable students including minorities and those that identify as LGBTQ+
- Being a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars while also pressing the government to allocate more.
- Classroom sizes and complexities are harming student learning and this needs to be addressed.
How can learning conditions be improved?
Learning conditions in schools can be improved when classroom sizes and students with complex learning needs are supported. This means changing the criteria for when assistants are hired to be in classrooms and reducing class sizes. Money needs to be allocated to reducing class sizes not increasing the number of employees at central office.
How can trustees and school boards best support teachers?
Trustees and school boards can support teachers by creating policies that help teachers in all the ways they need. It is important that policies that make it easier to have safe and caring classrooms, that trust teacher autonomy, and that show teachers during this difficult stage of education in Alberta that there are boards that understand the complexities and serve to ease that burden.
Views on the new K-6 curriculum
The curriculum was pushed through without proper consultation from teachers in Alberta. The very people that are experts are curriculum weren’t asked to help build it and it reflects that this process didn’t respect the professionalism of educators in Alberta.