‘There needs to be more’: Alberta teachers reflect one year after the strike

On the first anniversary of the end of Alberta’s 2025 teacher strike, the union that represents educators said concerns remain unchanged.

Oct. 27 marked one year since the provincial government invoked the notwithstanding clause under Bill 2, the Back to School Act, which sent teachers back to work and students back to class after a 17-day strike.

The order drew criticism on both legal and resolution fronts, with lawyers calling the use of the notwithstanding clause unjustified and teachers calling the end of the 18-month bargaining period unsatisfactory. 

“Today, the government stripped away the charter rights of teachers in this province,” Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), said at that time. 

“That is a deep wound for my colleagues across this province.”

An earlier deal the government proposed, which more than 90 per cent of teachers rejected last September, took effect when teachers returned to work. It included 12 to 17 per cent salary increases and a promise to hire more than 3,000 new teachers.

Schilling said at a press conference Tuesday morning that, despite recent government efforts, these grievances still stand, and many teachers would vote the same today. 

“Here we are a year later, and we still have kids crammed into classrooms across this province,” he said. 

“We still have students slipping through the cracks. [The] government has made initial steps; they’ve admitted that the strike has forced them to put this funding into place, yet they still need to do more. They’re still failing students across this province.”

Pointed initiatives not enough, says ATA president

During the ATA-led media availability, Schilling weighed what the government has done since last fall against what schools look like today. He said the most significant outcome of the strikes may be that they, to an extent, pushed the government to address teachers’ concerns. 

“That acknowledgement matters, but recognizing the problem is not the solution,” said Schilling.

“The needs of many of our students remain greater than we respond.”

He reiterated that large class sizes and too few teachers remain concerns today, saying that although the $200 million grant aimed at hiring upwards of 1,400 elementary and middle school teachers was a step in the right direction, it has left high schools underserved. 

Schilling said high school teachers continue to report having more than 37 students in their classrooms, and that this focus-group discrepancy has carried into classroom complexity, with high schools receiving 379 fewer support teams. 

That same morning, the Sherwood School administration team presented at the Calgary Board of Education trustee meeting, revealing that 60 per cent of its middle-school-aged students weren’t reading at grade level and that targeted efforts by its support team helped reduce that number. 

“This is a great example of where we have prioritized what defines quality and impactful intervention,” said chief superintendent Joanne Pitman. 

“The depth of work and the innovation that occurs and is not restricted by these provincial investments, in fact, could actually further them.”

Low attention to senior students, top priorities, a growing problem

Early intervention is an industry-standard approach to supporting students who may be struggling academically, Schilling explained, but because of the “decade of neglect” the education system has undergone, he said funding needs to cover every grade level.

“There needs to be more, and so we are always open to having conversations with [the] government,” said Schilling. 

“I know that they can be difficult, but that needs to happen more so that [the] government can truly listen and still hear what teachers are saying needs to be fixed within their classrooms.”

He emphasized the need for more consultation between the government, teachers, and instructional professionals overall, especially on what should be considered an educational priority. 

“I’ve spent the last two days talking about flags in schools,” said Schilling. 

“Why are we talking about that? It’s a distractionary issue. It’s meant to have my focus over here about flags. In the meantime…class sizes and student supports are not being met.”

He referenced Bill 25, An Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms, which received royal assent in May and came into effect last month, effectively promoting neutrality in schools by restricting flag displays to the national flag only. 

Schilling cited this as an example of how the association has viewed the provincial government as focusing on and funding topics that do not align with educators’ advocacy for the quality of teaching provided. 

“Through the year building up to the strike, during the strike, and since the strike, not one teacher has come to me concerned about the flag policy at their school,” he said. 

“That’s not on their radar. Getting kids to be successful at school is on their radar.”

Copyright 2026, LiveWire Calgary. All rights reserved.

Sarah Palmer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, LiveWire Calgary.