Education town halls aim to raise awareness about issues impacting public education in Alberta

A series of town halls across Alberta Saturday aimed to raise awareness about the issues impacting education.

Support Our Students Alberta hosted a series of town hall meetings Saturday to encourage people to talk about the challenges facing the education system in an effort to motivate Albertans to take action.

It was an opportunity to hear speakers address underfunding, privatization and the use of the notwithstanding clause that ended the teachers’ strike.

“I do believe that coming together in solidarity like this, with different organizations and petitions and initiatives is a culminating experience and does show that the movement is building urgency and momentum,” says Medeana Moussa, Support Our Students Alberta Executive Director.

Sandy Wood was one of about 50 people who attended the town hall at Marda Loop Communities Association. She has a four-year-old son and wants to make sure Alberta’s education system will benefit him when he starts school. Wood was hopeful last year’s strike would see the provincial government make education a priority.

“I felt like nothing happened; nothing changed officially but what happened was the public conversation has really exploded.,” she said.

Amanda Chapman, the NDP MLA for Calgary-Beddington and its education critic, says funding continues to be one of the biggest concerns for parents and stakeholders.

“I do think that the biggest challenge facing public education right now is our lowest funding per student in the country, obviously when you have low funding, it puts a lot of constraints on the resources that a school can offer,” Chapman says.

Moussa believes coming together in solidarity at events like these will show the provincial government Albertans are concerned about the future of education.

Similar town halls took place in Edmonton, Airdrie and Lethbridge.

With files from CTV News Calgary’s Kevin Fleming