Lethbridge students rally for teachers as strike begins

Across Alberta, 51,000 teachers have walked off the job as their strike begins. Locally, students have started gathering to show their support.

Fifty-one thousand teachers have walked off the job as part of an Alberta-wide teachers’ strike.

Outside schools in Lethbridge, dozens of students gathered to show their support for educators.

“I’m honoured that I can show my support to them even though my education is being put on pause and it is a busy year,” said rally co-organizer and Grade 12 student Myles Angyle.

About two dozen high school students spent much of the day rallying outside Winston Churchill High School.

Behind them, their school was locked for the first day without class.

They wanted their teachers to know they support them.

“Support is everything in a situation like this; it’s very complicated and hard on the teachers. They’re more than just teachers. They’re parents; they have stuff to do outside of school,” said Angyle.

While they’re supporting their teachers, the students are disappointed it’s gotten to this point.

Many are now missing out on vital studies and extracurriculars.

“That’s pretty big for me, especially since I’m going into my diplomas after December and January. And so all my teachers are trying to get me ready for that. But it’s hard to do that when we can’t do classes for who knows how long,” said Grade 12 student Emellia Gordon-Mestinsek.

“To be on a sports team and having to pay like a fee to play these sports and then having them shut down early is ridiculous,” said Grade 11 student and football player Ethan Heseltine.

Exploratory talks between the province and ATA are ongoing, but no date has been set to return to the bargaining table.

The province says it’s ready to come back to the table and hammer out a deal

In a statement, Minister of Finance Nate Horner said, “A deal can’t be reached without negotiating. The ATA needs to get back to the table so we can resolve this matter swiftly. Alberta’s government remains committed to reaching a fair deal for our teachers so we can get our kids back to school.”

The ATA says the province’s offers won’t fix an overburdened education system.

In its latest offer, the province would have hired 3,000 more teachers and 1,500 educational assistants.

According to the ATA, 5,000 teachers are needed to get teacher-student ratios under control.

“The government says they don’t know what teachers want. Well, yesterday, tens of thousands of Albertans across this province shared once again what teachers want. Teacher-student ratios, support for complex classrooms and fair pay,” said ATA president Jason Schilling.

The Lethbridge School Division is reminding parents and caregivers not to leave children at school or a bus stop.

The division issued a statement saying, “We know this is a very challenging time. We don’t know how long this will last, but we do want you to know that when job action is resolved, we will be happy to welcome our students, staff and community back.”