Dear Editor,
Alberta has underfunded vital public services for too long. There are wounds that need tending — right now.
Just look at education: jammed classrooms, kids with special needs struggling without educational supports, teachers pushed to their limits.
We are the richest province yet we have the lowest per-student funding of public schools, not to mention the largest class sizes, in the country. Our test scores, once a source of international pride, are declining. Surprise.
And when you adjust the 2024-27 budget for inflation, public school funding actually goes down another 7.3 per cent, per capita, by 2027. This affects more than 90 per cent of kids because it includes Catholic and Francophone schools.
(Meanwhile, public funding for private schools, already the highest in Canada, will rise by 14 per cent by 2027.)
Pause for a moment: This — right here, right now — is a boom, right? Royalty revenue is sky high. If we're cutting education funding during these great times, then when does it get better?
Same question goes for healthcare, which sees a cut of 5.8 per cent by 2027. Social services' budget declines by 11 per cent.
Municipalities are taking a hard hit, too. Okotoks' base operational funding will be reduced by one-third this year. And you wonder why the Town is getting creative with fees.
This isn't about being wasteful; it's about getting what we pay for. We can afford fundamental services. Our students. Our families. Our health. Our economy. It's all connected.
And then there's the unthinkable multiplier: What happens when oil prices fall? What kind of student-teacher ratios will we see then?
The prospect shakes me to my core. And I beg you to think about it, too, even though it's hard — before these wounds become scars.
Jessica Hallam
Okotoks
