CALGARY – A video produced by a group of Calgary parents is urging Albertans to write to MLAs and Alberta party leaders to protest education funding cuts in the province.
The black and white video features young students holding signs with answers to the question: “What do funding cuts look like for your child?” The messages include, “I can’t go to the school across the street. It’s too full,” “It took 4 years for me to get support for my learning issue,” and “My class uses the stage for a classroom.” The video has been viewed over 80,000 times since being posted on Facebook and Vimeo last week.
Watch: SOS Alberta has released this video to protest school budget cuts.
Barbara Silva belongs to the SupportOurStudents.ca (SOS Alberta) parent advocacy group, which includes 11 other Calgary parents. Silva said she and group member Tania Wildman created the video in response to the provincial budget, “and the fact that public education has been underfunded and not kept pace with growth over the past four years.”
“The video was something we put together about conversations we’ve heard on the playground,” said Silva.
“I used to be a teacher…I’ve taught in classrooms with more students than desks. So we’re speaking to overcrowding or not being able to get into schools, and we want to evoke that emotion to get people to want to participate in this discussion.”
At last count, Silva said over 780 Albertans have written letters to MLAs through the group’s website, hitting 79 of the 87 ridings. She called the response “overwhelming.”
“The response has been so great, that we will be following up by asking Albertans to create their own stills, filling in their own slides of how cuts have affected their children,” said Silva. “We want—either through our Twitter account or on our Facebook page—for people to tell us what their experience is: What’s their biggest complaint? What’s happening with their child in the school that they’re not appreciative of? What’s their experience?”
You can reach the group on Twitter @SOSAlberta or on Facebook at Support our Students Alberta.
Silva says her group isn’t supporting any one candidate or campaign, but produced the video to encourage people to share their experiences and head to the polls in the upcoming election May 5.
“We want whichever government that sits in the legislature May 6 to know that education is incredibly important for all Albertans and Alberta’s future.”
READ MORE: Alberta Budget 2015: Opposition and stakeholders react
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