June 30, 2026
Edmonton, AB – In a letter sent today to Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides, CUPE Alberta is calling for stable and predictable budgets that will allow schools and educators to fully and consistently support Alberta students.
The Minister’s recent announcement of funding for additional complexity teams comes with a catch: there is no guarantee that the funding will continue beyond the next school year.
“Without stable and predictable budgets, schools will never be able to attract and retain the high-quality staff needed to make these teams a success,” said Raj Uppal, CUPE Alberta President.
“This sets up kids to fail. Without putting reliable and meaningful supports in place, inclusion isn’t possible and instead creates division and tension within learning environments,” she added.
Many school boards are only offering these complexity team roles as temporary positions due to the unclear nature of the funding commitment. This means that the highly qualified and experienced educational assistants that should be part of these teams are effectively being excluded from applying to these positions, as it would compromise their seniority and job security. Long-time employees shouldn’t be forced to take the gamble of a temporary position with unclear funding to support Alberta’s most vulnerable students.
“Our kids are still some of the lowest-funded in Canada,” said Uppal. “Alberta’s students and staff deserve better than throwing money at a bandaid solution and pitting children against one another to compete for resources.”
CUPE Alberta calls on the UCP government to provide robust, predictable, and sustainable long-term funding to public education.