Report

EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today presented Alberta's Commission on Learning with "Excellence in Education through Accountability and Choice." Based on a survey of CTF Alberta supporters, the brief calls for merit pay for teachers, school vouchers for parents, and a professional teachers' association separate from the teachers' union. The brief also advances that principals no longer be required to be members of the teachers' union, that teachers not have the right to strike, and that taxes not be increased.

Teachers' salaries in Alberta are based exclusively on seniority and on whether the teacher has a Bachelor's degree or a Master's degree. The CTF's brief recommends adding two more factors: the amount of time a teacher spends on extra-curricular activities, and the degree of student improvement in provincial achievement tests. The CTF's merit pay proposal would see individual teachers earning up to 30% more, or up to 30% less.

"Alberta's teacher pay grid is manifestly unfair to teachers, because it fails to reward competence, innovation, and excellence in teaching," stated CTF-Alberta director John Carpay.

The CTF's brief recommends extending choice in Alberta's public school system by giving parents vouchers for their school-aged children. The parent can use that voucher for any school in Alberta, and that school would receive an equal per-pupil grant from the Alberta government.

"Parents should have the right to choose the school that they believe will best suit their children's needs," stated Carpay.

The CTF's brief notes that Alberta's Teaching Profession Act establishes the Alberta Teachers' Association as both a union and a professional body.

"By forcing the Alberta Teachers' Association to be both a union and a professional body, the Teaching Profession Act creates a conflict of interest. The government should amend this legislation to create a separate professional body, with the sole mandate of setting and enforcing high standards for teachers ," stated Carpay.