“We are disappointed that the government has dictated that we lay off these valuable staff members, who are directly involved in supporting student learning, even in this new temporary model of online classrooms,” says Board Chair Anne Marie Watson. 1/ https://twitter.com/rdnewsnow/status/1245860199363047424

“We worked hard to keep these staff employed as long as possible, but we really wish we had not been forced into taking this action.” 2/

“This was disappointing news to us because two weeks ago Alberta Education initially promised that funding would continue as status quo for the rest of the school year,” said RDCRS Interim Superintendent Kathleen Finnigan. 3/

“We developed an innovative approach to student learning involving all staff, such as educational assistants reading or supporting students with online assignments.” 4/

Sure doesn’t sound like this board, or any other, was asking @AdrianaLaGrange or @jkenney or anyone in the UCP #ableg to go ahead with #25klaidoff in #abed
Sure wasn’t any @albertateachers colleagues who know the value of support staff. 5/

So what is happening here? First, people need to contact their #UCP MLAs and let them know how terrible this decision was, and that their leader should stop lying about it. 6/

Next, people need to contact their school trustees and thank them for minimizing the damage, but also know that we need every one of these positions hired back ASAP, and trustees need to advocate for full restoration of this funding. 7/

Then, people need to thank the @abndpcaucus and @shoffmanAB for standing up for teachers, support staff, and most importantly, students and their families in the #ableg 8/

And finally, and most importantly, never forget just how recklessly the UCP have played political games with Education, and how they abandoned students with special needs just to save a few bucks, and how they lied to cover it all up. We all deserve better.