Health care top issue in Alberta election – education second – Ipsos Reid
According to this Ipsos Reid poll conducted in mid-February, Alberta voters rate health care (40 per cent) as the top issue they would like to hear debated during this election campaign. Education came second (18 per cent, including 9 per cent K-12 and 9 per cent post-secondary), the environment (15 per cent), housing affordability (11 per cent), royalty revenues (7 per cent), infrastructure spending (7 per cent) and taxes (6 per cent).

See the 2007 Membership Survey Report
School boards review ASBA services
Each year, the ASBA surveys school boards to gauge their satisfaction with the services provided. Two copies of the full report will be mailed to school board offices Feb. 22. For extra copies, contact at 1.780.451.7101.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
100 per cent response to telephone survey
Every school board in Alberta participated in the 2007 survey – conducted by phone last August/September.

Most school boards use ASBA services
School boards use these services:
Legal Services – 59 school boards
Labour Relations – 48 school boards
Association Affairs – 39 school boards

School boards happy with ASBA services
Legal Services – 90 per cent very satisfied
Labour Relations – 90 per cent very satisfied
Association Affairs – 95 per cent very satisfied

ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATIONS
The survey also asked school boards about member communications and provincial advocacy efforts.

When asked if the ASBA practised open communications
68 per cent of respondents strongly agreed
26 per cent agreed
6 per cent disagreed

When asked if the ASBA listened to school boards needs
39 per cent of respondents strongly agreed
48 per cent agreed
13 per cent disagreed

When asked if school boards had sufficient input into provincial advocacy activities
49 per cent of respondents strongly agreed
43 per cent agreed
8 per cent disagreed

ASBA task force to tackle high school completion issue
With a focus on what school boards can contribute, the ASBA Board of Directors approved terms of reference for a task force that will look at improving high school completion rates. At their February meeting, the board approved terms of reference for the ASBA High School Completion Task Force which will be chaired by Zone 4 Director Jackie Swainson.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR TASK FORCE  
With a view to contributing to improving Alberta's high school completion rates, this task force will develop a plan for consideration by the ASBA Board of Directors that

TASK FORCE MEMBERS

Note:
Each Zone has been invited to name a representative to the task force.

ASBA to review process to achieve agreements for unfunded liability
The ASBA will conduct a debrief of the process and impact – including financial – of the recently achieved memorandums of agreement which resulted in the government picking up the tab for the teachers' portion of the unfunded pension liability. The goal is to present a report at the Spring General Meeting. See ASBA President Heather Welwood's Board Chair's E-mail No. 9 for more information.

What's new @www.asba.ab.ca?

Court ruling re teacher contracts
This Feb. 20 Legal Brief summarizes a recent court ruling about school boards' teacher contracts of employment. 

Communications Now March 2008
See the March edition of Communications Now for:

Research about Aboriginal education
The Sharing Our Success: Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education: Proceedings of a National Conference paper summarizes a November 2007 research and policy conference convened by the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education (SAEE). SAEE is an independent non-profit Canadian education research agency. Over 375 stakeholders met in Winnipeg to share promising practices in Aboriginal schooling. 

New documents on ASBA website
Minutes: January 2008 board meeting
Highlights: February 2008 board meeting
Registration brochure: Closing the Gaps symposium

Education in the news
See the ASBA website for media stories about education.  In this week's headlines:  

Fort Vermilion board seeks payment from band
Sixty students from a northern Alberta reserve won't be able to attend Fort Vermilion schools this September unless their financially troubled band settles a million-dollar debt with the jurisdiction.

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