With the 2022-23 school year about to get underway, students and teachers across the province are gearing up for another session of high-quality learning across the board.
And parents, guardians, trustees and staff are all right to expect that Alberta’s elected officials, and MLAs in particular, will be providing the support needed to ensure that the province’s classrooms remain among the best in Canada.
Yet this time around the upcoming school year faces several unique challenges directly related to the political situation in the province. Specifically, the ongoing UCP leadership campaign and the spring 2023 provincial election both have the potential to create significant challenges for schools and students.
The UCP leadership campaign will see a new premier elected in early October to replace outgoing first-term premier Jason Kenney. That new leader will no doubt want to put his or her stamp on the government without delay, including making possible changes to the provincial cabinet.
Should the new leader decide to replace Jason Kenney’s handpicked minister of Education with someone new, that changeover could result in new directions and new directives in the critical portfolio.
Hopefully any shift in education department leadership will not cause undue disruptions for students.
While 2023 provincial election campaign will focus on key issues such as cost-of-living, policing, health care, the economy and justice, it will also include a deep and possibly bitter debate on education in the province.
The current UCP regime has battled with teachers and other educators for more than three years – and that sometimes extremely bitter fight has resulted in a relationship that might be described as anything but friendly.
Hopefully the 2023 campaign will see politicians of all stripes make the well-being of students and the overall health of the education system top priorities.
Students are never pawns to be used by politicians to score points against their opponents. As such, voters here and elsewhere will be watching closely to ensure that doesn’t happen going forward.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
