A WIN, A TAX INCREASE, AND A LOT MORE FUNDING

“Don't tell me where your priorities are.

Show me where you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are.”

Provincial budgets don't merely determine how much tax you will pay, how much will be borrowed for your children to pay, and what services those children will receive.

They are also an attempt to align those numbers to the values of Albertans.

So, how did the government do in this year's budget?

Well, we’re letting you tell us, but first we’ll give you the simple goods on what’s in the budget and what has changed.

Then we have some questions for you, and we will be sharing your answers with the government to let them know how you feel they did in reflecting your values.

Prioritizing Choice in Education

First, we evidently get to break some news we have seen nowhere else.

The Weighted Moving Average - the funding formula we opposed for undermining choice in education - is dead.

This is a giant win for our organization, as we raised this issue in early August and have seen action in less than one full budget cycle!

We told you again in October to contact the relevant decision-makers and let them know we expected to see a new model that gave preference to schools attracting families, rather than schools driving families away.

That is precisely what we have in this budget.

The funding model is being adjusted to provide funding based on a two-year enrollment average instead of three, starting this Fall.

Of the funding, 30% will be based on the current year’s enrollment and 70% will be based on projections of the following year’s enrollment.

That means the money will follow the child, much more faithfully than before, and growing schools will receive extra funding in anticipation of that growth.

Under the old Weighted Moving Average, shrinking schools received extra per student funding, instead.

We are pleased to see schools better incentivized to grow by meeting families’ needs, rather than an attempt to cushion the blow for schools rejected by families.

We are so proud of the advocacy you all did to see this day come, when Alberta returns to its stated principles of supporting choice in education.

One could be surprised that the Alberta Teachers’ Association, after complaining about the funding formula for years, hasn’t trumpeted this as a win.

But we mentioned that arguing for money to follow the child has always been an awkward and inconsistent position for them.

We anticipate that the teacher union will, eventually, attack this solution to the problems they decried for years.

We stand ready to oppose those arguments on the same, consistent ground we always have: that parents know what their kids need better than politicians, so parents should be empowered to make the decisions about their kids’ education.

In that vein, we must mention before moving on that this budget also prioritizes capital funding to provide more seats at schools where families languish on waiting lists.

Education Property Tax Increase

Homeowners will be seeing an increase on their property taxes, and, of course, renters will see that passed along as a rent increase.

The Province has estimated Calgarians will pay $239 more, on average, this year.

Edmontonians will pay an average of $93 more, and those outside the two major metros will pay less, in accordance with lower average land values.

Depending on your municipality, you are likely seeing a property tax increase already, but this is a provincial “requisition” for education funding.

Traditionally, the Province’s revenue target has been that 33% of the education budget will be paid for through property taxes.

That may already be a surprise, if you (like many taxpayers) thought property taxes paid for the entirety of the education budget.

If so, you might be particularly surprised to learn that the actual proportion of the education budget covered by property taxes has been a mere 28.5%.

This year’s property tax increase is projected to bring in 31.6% of what Alberta will spend on education.

In future years, the Province says it wants to return to the historical 33% target, but not go beyond that.

Funding Priorities

Finally, we’ll review the funding priorities which have driven this round of increases.

Alberta will spend $54 million in the next school year, and $348 million in the next two years, to attempt to catch up to enrollment growth pressures.

A whopping $1.6 billion is earmarked, just in the next school year, for students with specialized learning needs.

The Province anticipates this funding will result in 4,000 new teachers and classroom support staff over the next three years.

With rising maintenance costs, Alberta is spending another $389 million over the next three years to address those needs - they mentioned, in particular, the rising cost of insurance and utilities.

We Want to Hear from You

So, what do you think?

Does this education budget reflect your values?

Here are some questions we'd love to know your thoughts on, but also feel free to let us know anything else on your mind:

Q1: Do you support or oppose the Government of Alberta ending the old Weighted Moving Average funding model?

Q2: Alberta Education will now be spending roughly $12,000 per student per year. Does that seem too low, too high, or about right to you?

Q3: What are your thoughts on the Education Property Tax Increase? Should property taxes have covered the full amount? Are property taxes even the right way to do this? Maybe all taxes should be higher, or lower?

Q4: Given this level of funding and taxation, do you think the priorities set in Budget 2025 reflect your values?

Q5: What changes would you make to the education budget to better reflect your own values?