Minister of Education, Adriana LaGrange. (Government of Alberta)

By Sheldon Spackman/rdNewsNow

Bill 15

Education minister reinforces need for new teaching profession discipline process

Apr 13, 2022 | 2:50 PM

Alberta’s Minister of Education is reinforcing her government’s intentions to reform discipline processes for the province’s teaching profession.

Adriana LaGrange says Bill 15, the Education (Reforming Teacher Profession Discipline) Amendment Act, which passed first reading last week, aims to create one discipline process to deal with one teaching profession.

“There are different processes if you’re under the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), versus if you’re not a member of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, in which charter schools and independent schools and First Nation and ECS’s are not,” she says. “[That’s why] we’re really looking to align it so that there is one process.”

LaGrange says Alberta is the only outlier where the teacher’s union has the sole responsibility set out in legislation to deal with discipline of their active members with no other alternative. She says that doesn’t happen anywhere else in Canada.

“It (Bill 15) will also align it with other professions, such as the nursing profession, pharmacists, accountants, et cetera,” adds LaGrange. “This is about creating one discipline process that really is in the best interests of students, their families, the public interest, and of course the teaching profession as a whole.”

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The ATA, meanwhile, says Bill 15 would reroute complaints on teacher conduct and competence through a newly established Alberta Teaching Profession Commissioner, appointed by the minister. The organization says it was not permitted to participate in any briefings on the matter, nor did it receive any information concerning the bill prior to its tabling in the legislature.

ATA president Jason Schilling describes the bill as a ‘crass, insensitive bid to undermine public confidence in teachers and the ATA.’

Schilling says the bill will force the ATA to act as a labour union only, with a narrow view on teachers’ interests first. He says the move will introduce more management-labour conflicts into schools, displacing the collaborative, collegial environment that has been a hallmark of Alberta’s public education system.

LaGrange disputes those claims.

“I’m hearing the misconception that it’s a power grab and only about politics, but nothing could be further from the truth,” she insists. “It really is about ensuring that there’s student safety and protecting the public interest, and making the process as accountable and as transparent as possible to give parents the ability to see that the process does in fact make sure that we have students at the forefront of the process.”

LaGrange says the ATA has the best interests of its teachers at their forefront, while her responsibility lies with students.

“The vast majority of teachers in this province are just amazing, caring individuals that really have the best interest of their students at heart,” says LaGrange. “Unfortunately, there are cases where we do have unprofessional conduct and teacher incompetency, and we have to deal with those in a timely manner. We want to make sure that parents have that assurance that when we put in this new process, which is a commissioner-led process, or an arm’s-length approach, that they will have that one site that they can go to and know their issues are being dealt with.”

LaGrange claims Bill 15 is about empowering the teaching profession in Alberta.

“This is about ensuring we have a fair process for all teachers and teacher leaders, regardless of where they work,” says LaGrange.

Bill 15 will soon be debated through second and third readings, as well as Committee of the Whole. If passed, it would receive royal assent.

As well, Bill 15 would amend both the Education Act and the Teaching Profession Act.

For more information, you can read the Reforming Teacher Profession Discipline fact sheet.

In the meantime, government officials say regulatory work for transitional provisions and remaining details for the proposed model would commence in spring 2022.

Also, the newly proposed disciplinary model set out under the direction of the Alberta Teaching Profession Commissioner would come into force on Jan. 1, 2023.