Bill 12 brings more certainty to student learning environment and builds fences around arbitration process, says ASBA
Release date: March 13, 2002
Bill 12 - tabled March 11, 2002 – brings more certainty to the learning
environment for Alberta students and addresses some concerns school boards had
with a wide-open arbitration process, said Alberta School Boards Association
President Michele Mulder. "School boards welcome the certainty this brings to
the learning environment for the students we serve."
Mulder thanked Premier Ralph Klein, Dr. Lyle Oberg, Mr. Clint Dunford and their
colleagues for listening carefully to school boards' views on the current labour
situation. "The arbitration process proposed in Bill 12 specifically excludes
three working conditions and factors in each board';s ability to pay," said
Mulder. "These represent some of the fences Alberta school boards wanted built
around the arbitration. This process will better serve students and Alberta's
taxpayers."
Mulder welcomed the proposed education commission as a venue where all Albertans
would be engaged in a wide-ranging dialogue about priorities for Alberta's public
education system. "Discussions about what Alberta';s classrooms should look
like must include the whole community – parents, teachers, taxpayers, business
people – and be based on Albertans expectations of their public education
system and what is best for student learning. This education commission is an
opportunity to chart the course for the future of public education in Alberta.
The ASBA heartily endorses this commission and the promise it holds for Alberta
students."
Reiterating school boards'; commitment to the local bargaining process, Mulder
called for an environment where local bargaining could be successful. "School
boards must have the flexibility – including some measure of local taxation
– to negotiate locally with our teachers," said Mulder.
For more information contact: Michele Mulder, ASBA President
at 1.780.679.5627 (cell).
The Alberta School Boards Association serves and represents all Alberta’s public, separate and francophone school boards.
