June 25, 1998
HIGH MARKS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD
"Sorry," I told her yesterday. "Don, we accept your humble apology," she replied gleefully. Last fall I ragged mercilessly on the board, accusing it of being fat, bloated, overmanaged, and wasteful. The conclusion seemed obvious, since the Calgary board had chronic money problems that others didn't. And there were always informants to whisper about funding horrors at the board. When the province's report on the Calgary board came out recently, I was startled by the result. The report found no fault with our Calgary Board of Education. Its administrative costs are within limits and its books are sound. It is, generally, a very efficient and well-run outfit. The panel saying this, remember, was appointed by a government that was out to get the province's largest school board. The Tories were furious about what they saw as political resistance (in other words, too many Liberal trustees.) In the words of one player, "they wanted blood on the floor." If this panel could not uncover a single real problem with the board, Torquemada couldn't find a witch in Spain. The inquiry, says Tilston, "was always a cloud hanging over everybody's head. Now that it's removed there's a real sense of optimism." Tilston herself is largely responsible for that. First she got herself on the panel -- an appointment that must have made Education Minister Gary Mar gag, since she's the board's fiercest defender. Then she argued for an outside auditor to examine the board's affairs. "That was absolutely crucial to a fair outcome," she says. Arthur Andersen & Co. found that board administration spending was actually $1.5 million below the province's 4% guideline. The real problem, it turns out, is the aging population of teachers. Because so many are at the senior end of the pay scale, the board spends $15 million more than it should. This happened because the board hired many teachers during the growth spurt of the late 1970s. And those teachers have gradually become the most powerful in Alberta. The collective agreement, the report says, imposes "significant restrictions on the flexibility of the board to allocate its financial resources." Also, "these restrictions on assigned teaching time, pupil-teacher ratio and the number of administrative positions are the most severe in the province." If the board can be faulted for anything, it's for relinquishing too much power to the teachers' union. But the settlement of last fall's work-to-rule nightmare brought the beginnings of a solution. About 450 senior teachers accepted retirement packages, and the board is now hiring replacements just out of university. This means plenty of inconvenient bumping and shoving as teachers and principals transfer among schools. It's also very unfair to legions of supply teachers who won't be hired full-time despite their experience. And the turmoil is far from over, because the board and union are already negotiating a new contract. (Believe it or not, the deal struck this year expires Aug. 31.) But at least we know that one of the major players, the board, is competent and efficient. That's my polished end-of-term apple, offered with some remorse -- for a columnist, anyway. Next Story: ZERO DEBT IN REACH Previous Story: REFORM NOT WORRIED
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