The evolution of professionalism - Centre for Policy Studies in ...

schools followed a model already popular in the United States and added a new
choice for parents within the public sector. Their establishment was the subject
of contentious debate, with such terms as effi ciency, accountability, and choice
being used throughout government documents to describe the educational and
fi scal reorganization. The Bill provided for fi ve pilot charter schools, which opened
within the year (in October, 1995).
Bill 19 revised teacher certifi cation requirements, complaints handling,
disciplinary action toward teachers, and guidelines for professional conduct. The
government created the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF) and required
public school boards to apply for funding from this government controlled fund,
while at the same time giving Catholic School Boards the option of being outside
the new funding framework for education, without any loss of funding (Taylor,
2001). The Alberta School Board Association (ASBA), regarding the ASSF as a
major step toward the centralization of funding and a threat to their autonomy,
announced its intention to launch a court challenge over the amendments to the Act,
specifi cally, the right of public school boards to tax locally.
Restructuring in education had begun to take place within a government discourse
that predominantly emphasized accountability and choice. By September 1994, the
number of school boards had been reduced from 141 to 71, and the number of school
trustees from 1,000 to 435 (Matsumoto, 2002; Webber, 1995). In the same year, a
fi ve percent wage roll back was imposed on teachers. Roll backs were imposed on all
educators and all public sector employees (Peters, 1999).
Accountability plans were introduced to allow the government to meet its
commitment to establish a more open and accountable education system. Policy
stated that “Alberta Education and authorities will use planning, reporting, and
inspecting to improve further the quality of education provided to students in
Alberta”, and defi ned accountability in education as “the obligation to report on
and answer for the completion of one’s assigned responsibilities” (1995,1997).
Roles and Responsibilities in Education (1995) identifi ed specifi c responsibilities
for education system stakeholders and constituents (i.e., students, parents, teachers,
staff, superintendents, principals, school boards and school councils). Teacher
Education Reform (1995) articulated the government’s expectations of teachers in
terms of attitudes, knowledge, and skills, and the link between knowledge, skills,
and certifi cation.
Accountability in Education (1995) was released as a policy framework on
accountability, based on the work of an MLA implementation team on accountability
in education and province-wide consultations. The framework addressed the
relationship between reporting and monitoring for schools and school boards. All
school boards were now required to prepare education plans and result reports that
met provincial requirements. Plans would specify targets for improvement, to be met
by the third year of the plan. The education plans would be aligned with the threeyear
plans for education in Alberta, and would be made available to the public.
In November 1995, Justice Smith held the 1995 changes to the School Act to
be unconstitutional to the extent they denied public boards the same right to opt out
of the ASFF that had been afforded Catholic School Boards. The decision gave all
boards — public and separate — the right to opt out of the ASFF, and all school
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