{"id":2535,"date":"2025-02-24T15:55:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T22:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/?p=2535"},"modified":"2025-02-25T08:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T15:54:17","slug":"school-support-staff-unsung-heroes-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/?p=2535","title":{"rendered":"School Support Staff: Unsung Heroes in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wpfai-list\"><li class=\"wpfai-list-item facebook\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535&amp;t=\" title=\"Facebook\" class=\"wpfai-facebook wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-facebook fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item twitter\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535\" title=\"Twitter\" class=\"wpfai-twitter wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-twitter fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item google-plus\">\r\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535\" title=\"Google Plus\" class=\"wpfai-google-plus wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-google-plus fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item pinterest\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535&amp;description=&amp;media=\" title=\"Pinterest\" class=\"wpfai-pinterest wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-pinterest fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item linkedin\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535&amp;title=\" title=\"Linked In\" class=\"wpfai-linkedin wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item tumblr\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tumblr.com\/share\/link?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535&amp;name=&amp;description=\" title=\"Tumblr\" class=\"wpfai-tumblr wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-tumblr fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item stumbleupon\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535\" title=\"Stumble Upon\" class=\"wpfai-stumbleupon wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-stumbleupon fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item envelope\">\r\n      <a href=\"mailto:?subject=&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fbillbelsey.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F2535%20-%20\" title=\"E-Mail\" class=\"wpfai-envelope wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-envelope fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item bullseye\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.specificfeeds.com\/follow\" title=\"Specific Feeds\" class=\"wpfai-bullseye wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack \">\r\n          \r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-bullseye fa-stack-1x \"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In case you&#8217;ve been wondering why support staff in many Alberta school districts are on strike, I want to share the following pertinent information and personal reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First of all, let me say that as a teacher with a forty-year career in public education, the support staff in our schools are unsung and underappreciated heroes. They clean our large and technically complex buildings and work with many of a school&#8217;s most challenging students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The salary of educational assistants in Alberta has stagnated and even declined over the past decade, with significant impacts when adjusted for inflation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wage stagnation: Most education support workers, including educational assistants, have not received a wage increase in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Declining average salary: The average wage for educational assistants in Alberta has dropped from $27,500 per year in 2022 to $26,400 in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hourly rate decrease: The hourly pay rate for educational assistants has fallen from $22.40 to $20.581.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below the poverty line: The current average salary of $26,400 for educational assistants is below the Alberta poverty line of $26,55016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Actual wage decrease: When adjusted for inflation, which has increased by 22.3% over the last decade, the average income of education support workers has effectively decreased to $21,363.46 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Falling behind inflation: In the last 11 years, wages for education support workers have fallen behind inflation by 24%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lagging behind average salaries: Educational assistant wages have fallen behind the increase in the average Albertan salary by 22% over the past 11 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This trend of stagnant or declining wages, combined with rising inflation, has significantly impacted the purchasing power and living standards of educational assistants in Alberta over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the most recent data, Alberta spends significantly less per student in public education compared to the rest of Canada:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alberta&#8217;s per-student spending is the lowest among all Canadian provinces, at $11,464 for the 2022-23 school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This amount is over 16% below the national average of $13,692 per student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gap between Alberta&#8217;s spending and the national average has been growing, increasing by 3% from the previous year and 11% since Alberta first fell to the bottom of the scale in 2018-2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To bring education spending to the national average, Alberta school boards would need at least a 13% boost in funding, equivalent to about $10 per student per school day.<br>Regarding teacher compensation per student, Alberta ranks last at $8,202, almost $1,600 below the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Education support workers deserve better; public education in Alberta needs appropriate support commensurate with Alberta&#8217;s relative means, and our children deserve better!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In case you&#8217;ve been wondering why support staff in many Alberta school districts are on strike, I want to share the following pertinent information and personal reflections. First of all,&#8230; <span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/?p=2535\">Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alberta","category-education","category-personal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2537,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billbelsey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}