CALGARY – Rachel Notley says an NDP government would stop cuts to education, reduce class sizes and create a school lunch program.
Notley was joined by parents and children on a Calgary playground where she criticized the Progressive Conservative government for funding cuts.
She says Alberta schools are being forced to absorb 12,000 new students this year without additional money for teachers and textbooks.
Notley says the provincial budget guarantees that this trend will continue.
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She says the NDP plan would cut school fees in half and create a program to help deliver a nutritious lunch to 22,000 students in the first year.
Notley says government cuts are preventing students from reaching their full potential.
“In a growing province with such wealth, a growing province with such promise there is no excuse to undermine our public education with extra fees for families,” Notley said Thursday.
“We would reduce the cuts that Jim Prentice has proposed and that roughly comes to about $105 million. Then we would roll out a class size and composition initiative for about $75 million per year.”
Notley said her government would work with school boards to ensure they have the resources to bring down class sizes.
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