ATA reacts to government funding to address classroom complexity

By Lethbridge Herald on February 14, 2026.

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman

Lethbridge Herald

The Alberta Teacher’s Association president Jason Schilling shared his thoughts on the government’s announcement to invest $143 million on complexity teams. 

“Today’s announcement of additional teachers and educational assistants serves as a long do admission that the government has chronically underfunded our schools for years,” said Schilling. 

He said this shift is a direct result of the relentless advocacy by teachers, bolstered by parents and communities who collectively demanded an end to the unsustainable status quo. 

“The government today has announced this initial step towards restoring appropriate learning conditions in Alberta, especially those classrooms facing the most significant challenges,” said Schilling. “However, too often we have heard government officials say that they’ve heard the voices of teachers but failed to act.” 

He said the government needs to know that teachers and school leaders will be skeptical of their announcement. 

“The government’s newly released data confirms what teachers have long known. Classroom complexity is not the exception. It is in 99 per cent of our classrooms,” said Schilling.

He said the data released by the government truly reflects the nature of class size and needs. The complexity is systemic, province wide and deeply entrenched. 

“Transparent and comprehensive data must now guide all policy decisions. According to government data, only schools experiencing 10 or more significant complexity incidents are supposed to benefit from this first phase of supports,” said Schilling.  

He said that while targeted intervention is necessary, it’s only a beginning. Alberta must commit to stable, predictable, and adequate funding that reflects the full scope of the need across the entire education system. 

“The Alberta Teachers Association will closely monitor the deployment of these new resources to ensure they result in real improvements for students and teachers, and it is now the responsibility of school boards to act swiftly so that new staffing is in place without delay,” said Schilling. 

He said the announcement provides support for kindergarten to Grade 6, but significant and unmanageable needs still persist in Grade 7 to 12 and those students must be next. 

“We all know a single initiative cannot reverse the years of erosion in supports, staffing and resources caused by the chronic underfunding of this government,” said Schilling. 

He said in the weeks ahead when they expect a new provincial government, they expect it to build on this step and move Alberta towards a fully re-stored sustainable public education system. One that is no longer spending the least per student in the country. 

“In the coming months we will also be looking for a comprehensive province wide framework to address class size and complexity and every classroom across this province,” said Schilling. “The Alberta Teachers Association will continue to advocate its work and advancing its work on behalf of teachers and students across this province. The progress must not stop here.”