ASBA Proposes Creative Solutions To Framework Puzzle
Release date: January. 20, 1999
The Alberta School Boards Association wants the government to eliminate the provincially-set envelopes that dictate how school boards must spend the money they receive from the province. The ASBA is also calling for education funding to be linked to a demographic profile of the students each jurisdiction serves. These are among the solutions the ASBA is proposing to the Funding Framework Task Force, which is looking at ways to improve the formula the government uses to allocate funds to school boards.
Notwithstanding these suggestions about how to adjust the formula so it is more effective, ASBA President Lois Byers says the association's central message is that Alberta's education system needs more money.
"The call for more money came loud and clear during the two-day consultation we held with our members to identify ways to improve the formula," said Byers. "Sure we can suggest ways to make the structure work better, but tinkering with the math will be an empty exercise without an infusion of new money."
"Alberta Education's 93rd Annual Report speaks to the superb job school boards are doing meeting and exceeding provincially-set spending targets. Yet boards are facing financial difficulty as they implement the programs that the children they serve need. The problem isn't only with the formula; it's that there isn't enough money," said Byers.
The ASBA's submission to the Funding Framework Task Force is posted on the ASBA website at www.asba.ab.ca. Go to the Perspectives icon and click on the link for Position Papers. For a faxed copy of the seven-page report, contact Suzanne Lundrigan at 1.780.451.7122.
For more information contact: Lois Byers, ASBA President at 1.780.482.7311 or Suzanne Lundrigan, ASBA Manager, Communications 1.780.451.7122.
The Alberta School Boards Association serves and represents all Alberta’s public, separate and francophone school boards.
