Smith teases announcement to address classroom complexities on radio show

A new report released on Friday offers a roadmap to addressing the increasing complexities and the rising aggression in Alberta's classrooms.

Premier Danielle Smith said a “big amount” will be announced later this week to address classroom complexities.

That was one of the biggest issues that emerged from the teacher’s strike.

The province asked for input from teachers and school boards to learn more and found that of 108,000 classrooms, five per cent were considered unmanageable given class size and complexity.

On her radio call-in show Saturday, Your Province, Your Premier, Smith said she and education minister Demetrios Nicolaides will announce next steps this week and the impact will be immediate.

“We have to get the dollars out this year to make a big difference, particularly in the younger grades,” Smith said, “and then we’ll continue working with the school boards for next year and the following year.

“We think this may be a two-year challenge that we’re facing because we had such a large influx of students -- and a large influx of students who are English language learners so it’s going to require us to be involved in the deployment decisions for at least a couple of years.”

Smith also said blanket funding won’t work so what will be unveiled is a more targeted approach to resolving the issues surrounding classroom complexities.