Jill Fetherstonhaugh has been through a lot lately.
Two years ago, she graduated from Mount Royal University with a bachelor’s degree in education. Shortly afterwards, she got a job teaching grade eight students at Foothills Academy, a private school in Calgary.
Fetherstonhaugh thought her career in education was off to a promising start, but it didn’t last long. She was let go from Foothills Academy earlier this year, which left her scrambling for work.
Fetherstonhaugh filled in for a grade one teacher on leave at Cambrian Heights school this fall, but that didn’t last long either. After just over a month of being back in front of the classroom, she was out of work again with the strike starting Oct. 6.
Video: The Calgary Journal’s Darlene Aquino reports on frustrations with Alberta’s education system
The walkout was a response to the Alberta Teachers’ Association and provincial government disagreeing on a new teacher’s contract. The strike lasted for over three weeks until the province passed Bill 2, known as the Back To School Act, on Oct. 28. The legislation ordered teachers back to the classroom the following day and suspended further bargaining until 2028.
The key terms of the agreement established by the province are:
- A three per cent salary increase for teachers each year
- A commitment to hire 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 educational assistants; and
- Coverage of COVID-19 vaccines
Fetherstonhaugh says the terms of agreement are not what teachers were hoping for, and that 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 educational assistants will not be enough to reduce class sizes to manageable levels. She is also worried about the implications the province’s use of the notwithstanding clause will have on other unionized workers in Alberta. Despite everything that has happened, she is hopeful that things will eventually get better.
“We’re highly stressed. We get burnt out easily. Most teachers leave within their first five years,” said Fetherstonhaugh. “But I hope to stay in [teaching], and I hope those changes happen so I can maintain this career. Because it has always been my dream, and I don’t know what else I would do.”
Teachers aren’t the only ones who were affected by the strike. Parents like Steph and Jesse Patterson had to pay extra to send their children to daycare while classes were cancelled. Now that classes have resumed, Steph is worried that her son will have trouble catching up in his grade six classes.
“He’s doing final exams at the end of the year, and we’re hearing those might be pushed,” said Patterson. “I don’t know how that’s going to do education-wise, if he’s just going to be pushed through and not have that education.”
Alberta diploma exams and provincial achievement tests (PATs) scheduled for January 2026 have since been cancelled. Students will have the option to write diploma exams in April or June instead.
