Legislature gets underway February 4 – budget to be unveiled February 9
Lt. Governor Norman Kwong is scheduled to deliver the Speech from the Throne on February 4 at 3 p.m. The 2010 budget will be presented February 9 at 3 p.m. ASBA President Heather Welwood has been invited to the closed stakeholder briefing which starts at 1:30 p.m. on the 9th and she will make herself available for media comment after the formal budget presentation. You can follow all the action online.
According to The Armet Report, one of the six principles guiding the development of this year’s budget is: to minimize the impact on jobs by holding the line on spending and keeping jobs over providing for salary increases.
New school act delayed
The minister announced January 29 that he will be delaying introduction of the new School Act until the Fall Session of the legislature because of the overwhelming response to the work and the need to align the new legislation with the many department initiatives underway.
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Promoting school board elections
With the 2010 school board elections coming up, the ASBA has started work on materials local school boards may use to promote the election on two fronts – encouraging more people to consider running for the office of trustee and encouraging more people to get out and vote in the election. As the support materials are finalized they will be posted on the ASBA website and we will be sending a kit to school boards including a handbook for promoting the election and copies of the 2010 edition of the Become a School Trustee brochure.
Candidate information sessions
The ASBA will host a series of information sessions for potential candidates in May. These sessions will provide basic information about eligibility requirements and the role of the school trustee. A key feature will be a retiring trustee talking about the commitment, rewards and challenges of serving on school board. Watch the website for dates and locations.
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Mark Lisac of Insight into Government
Why “lobbying” is really about educating
In the January 15, 2009 edition of Insight into Government, Mark Lisac made these observations about school boards maintaining direct contact with MLAs if they want to shape government policy.
“It’s been clear that government members usually rely on guidance from caucus researchers and from senior cabinet ministers. There’s too much business at hand for them to investigate every policy and every bill personally. That’s why any organization affected by government policy should make it a priority to keep in touch with MLAs and lobby them on relevant issues. In many cases, lobbying isn’t the application of political pressure, it’s the education of elected members who only hear one side of the story in caucus briefings.”
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Awards for school councils/parents
School boards may nominate a local parent or school council for one of the Alberta School Councils’ Association’s new and improved Awards of Recognition (PDF–309K) for 2010. The nomination deadline is: March 1st, 2010. The nomination forms are here.
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In the February 2010 Communications Now
Talking about budget cuts
See this February 2010 Communications Now article (PDF–119K) for practical ideas for explaining budget cuts to your community. The ASBA publishes Communications Now through the school year and e-mails a copy to each jurisdiction office. An index of previous Communication Now articles is available for review. For more information contact
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What's new @www.asba.ab.ca?
Read the January 26 letter (PDF–333K) ASBA President Heather Welwood wrote to the public participants at the ASBA’s Putting the Public Back in Public Education summit.
Agenda Board of Directors
January 16 (PDF–32K)
HIghlights Board of Directors
January 16 (PDF–84K)
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In the news....
See the ASBA website for the latest headlines related to education. We update these daily. In this week's headlines:
Budget will set out future of ADLC – letter from Alberta Education
Grande Prairie Public announces partnership with Calgary based private school
Private school outside of Calgary becomes part of Grande Prairie Public School District
“We’re not facing massive cuts”, says education minister Dave Hancock seems to hint at wage freeze for school employees
Poor student performance spurs minister to appoint official trustee to Northland School Division
Premier Stelmach suggests education and health will be spared major cuts Edmonton Sun
Read more>
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