Addressing Disparities In Funding And Resources In Education
Addressing Disparities In Funding And Resources
In 2018-2019, Alberta's per-student funding fell below the national average, and this trend has continued to grow in subsequent years.
A consistent failure of provincial budgets that did not keep pace with enrollment growth and inflation has led to significant per-student funding reductions even though enrollments continue to increase.
The effect has been a financial and mental survival contest for both teachers and students alike. Classrooms are overcrowded and underfunded.
It is not uncommon for an elementary classroom to have 25 or more students, with 15 considered complex and requiring modified learning plans.
As a result, many schools are hiring Educational Assistants (EAs) instead of teachers because the cost is roughly one-third.
While EAs play an essential role, teachers are increasingly expected to design, deliver, and share instruction that EAs then implement, stretching teacher capacity and blurring professional roles.
Furthermore, public school teachers and educational assistants spend thousands of their personal income to adequately provide for the academic, social, and emotional needs of their students.
Getting To The Root Of These Disparities
The largest sums of money earmarked for public, private, and post-secondary schools seem to be absorbed in infrastructure and operational maintenance.
Yet, even when these numbers are left out of the equation, there still seems to be enough money to maintain smaller class sizes and a healthier teacher-to-student ratio.
These calculations take into consideration:
Professional fees
Senior executive salaries and expense accounts
Teacher salaries
Support staff salaries
Operating insurance
Licensing fees
Utilities
What is not clear in the funding formula is how much public and private schools spend on licensing for digital and non-digital classroom educational resources.
Third-party education companies have been known to take advantage of overburdened school divisions and charge hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire their products and licenses for digital and non-digital classroom educational resources.
Finding A Solution For These Disparities
There will need to be a significant reformatting of funding and resources for public education in Alberta and most other school divisions across North America as well.
True equity requires funding models that prioritize direct classroom impact and recognize the distinct expertise of educators.
The reality of this solution is extremely overwhelming and change takes time, so at Education Rocks, we offer a way to streamline this process for teachers, parents, and students.
How We’re Here To Help
The unit and lesson plans in our K-6 Learning Library can help your K-6 child or students develop confidence and proficiency in both English Language Arts & Literature and Mathematics in a straightforward and engaging way.
They are designed to foster self-efficacy and confidence. The best part is that you can edit these resources so that your child or students can focus on what they can do right now and build on it, rather than internalize that they are not performing at grade level.
All of our resources include engaging instructional videos, audio functions, and high-definition images. These resources can be used both digitally and non-digitally at home or at school.
As a small business, we are proud to keep our prices for high-quality digital and non-digital classroom educational resources fair and equitable for teachers and parents alike.
If you want to fully preview all unit and lesson plans, you can do so on our Teachers Pay Teachers page!
If you have any questions about any of our products, then you can email me at hello@educationrocks.ca.
Thank you for reading this blog post on addressing disparities in funding and resources in education.