By Somya Lohia | Shootin’ the Breeze
The Alberta Teachers’ Association is calling on the provincial government to take immediate action to address what it describes as a “polycrisis” in Alberta classrooms.
The call follows the ATA’s fall 2025 Pulse Research survey, which found that 95 per cent of teachers report feeling stressed, while 94 per cent are pessimistic about the future of the teaching profession.
In a press conference on Jan. 21, ATA president Jason Schilling said the results reflect the fallout from the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause last year to order striking teachers back to work.
“Forcing teachers to return to the same unsustainable working environments has significantly eroded health, mental health, morale and job satisfaction, causing long-term harm to the profession,” Schilling said.
In October 2025, the Alberta government passed legislation to end the provincewide teachers’ strike and impose a new four-year collective agreement. It also took the rare step of invoking the notwithstanding clause to prevent legal challenges.
The legislation followed months of unsuccessful negotiations between the ATA and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association. More than 51,000 Alberta teachers walked off the job on Oct. 6, citing funding, wages and overcrowded, complex classrooms as key issues.
After nearly three weeks of provincewide strike action, the government introduced Bill 2, the Back to School Act, during a special legislative session, passing it through all three readings in a single day.
In November, the ATA filed a constitutional challenge against the provincial government’s use of the notwithstanding clause. The union argues the legislation violates Charter rights and sets a dangerous precedent. The legal action, filed with the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, sought to overturn Bill 2, which forced teachers back to work.
Survey methodology and scope
The survey, conducted online between Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, gathered responses from more than 5,700 teachers and school leaders across Alberta.
According to the ATA, the findings provide a comprehensive snapshot of pressures facing the province’s educators, from personal well-being to classroom realities and system-wide policy challenges.
Classroom complexity escalating
The survey was divided into four levels. Of these, classroom complexity and lack of support was identified as a key concern. Eighty per cent of teachers reported an increase in student needs compared with the previous year, including behavioural challenges, cognitive gaps, language learning needs, and social-emotional and socio-economic concerns.
Schilling illustrated the impact: “Consider this. On paper, a Grade 4 classroom in Alberta should have 23 to 25 students. In practice and in reality, the learning delays, behavioural challenges, language acquisition needs and mental health concerns factored in, teachers are managing the equivalent workload of 37 students without additional staff or support.”
The survey also found that 82 per cent of teachers cited social-emotional student needs and 79 per cent cited behavioural challenges as top complexity factors in their classrooms. Many teachers described rising safety concerns, with escalating student aggression, violence and dysregulation “now much more common” in Alberta classrooms.
Over one-third of teachers awaiting student assessments said they expected the evaluations would not be completed this year due to wait times and resource constraints.
“Complexity is rising across every grade and every part of the province,” Schilling said.
“Across Alberta, teachers and school leaders have spoken. They have sounded the alarm that our public schools are in a crisis, that our classrooms are facing severe levels of complexity, the same conditions this government has repeatedly promised to address, yet, year after year, have failed to materialize concrete solutions in a meaningful way.”
Teacher well-being and moral distress
The survey also highlighted well-being and widespread moral distress among teachers. Only eight per cent of respondents said they feel happy in their jobs, while 61 per cent described themselves as unhappy.
Nearly three-quarters reported feeling no hope about their work or recovery following the fall job action. An overwhelming 95 per cent said they feel stressed, with almost 94 per cent pessimistic about the future of the teaching profession. Many teachers even expressed an intent to leave the profession.
School-level resource and staffing gaps
At the school level, respondents reported severe gaps in staffing and resources. Many schools reported shortages of educational assistants and specialist support services, including speech, occupational and physical therapy.
Teachers described routinely working through lunch and after hours to fill gaps, with one commenting, “I never leave my classroom. I have never worked harder in my life.”
Schilling said progress on staffing promises is lacking: “We asked teachers through the survey if they’ve seen an addition of staff and it indicates that they have not. Eighty-six per cent of teachers within the survey indicated that no extra staff has been hired at their school. So the government has a far way to go to add the 1,000 teachers that are required under the legislative settlement.”
Resource inadequacy was another concern, with more teachers noting declines in the availability of learning materials, specialist services and manageable class groupings compared with last year.
Many cited “loss of prep time and unmanageable expectations” as a daily reality. Schools with higher concentrations of English-language learners or students with complex needs are particularly strained, as supports have not kept pace with rising enrolments.
System-level pressures and government policy
Systemic pressures were also evident. The survey found that 91 per cent of respondents consider the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause (Bill 2) to impose a contract settlement a major factor affecting schools.
Teachers also flagged curriculum changes, proposed funding model revisions and new assessment requirements as areas of serious concern. Social policy directives, including pronoun and library policies, were further reported as negatively affecting school climate and trust.
Chronic underfunding was repeatedly emphasized. Respondents described a “dismantling of public education” narrative, linking inadequate funding to larger class sizes, insufficient supports and even personal financial strain, such as teachers paying out of pocket for classroom necessities.
ATA demands specific interventions
The ATA is calling for concrete action to address classroom and systemic challenges.
“Teachers and school leaders are not asking for sympathy,” Schilling said. “They’re calling for real solutions, including staffing and other resources that match the conditions that they are facing every day.”
The ATA reiterated its demands to add more teachers to reduce class sizes, more educational assistants to support complexity, a counsellor in every school, and access to mental health workers and other wraparound services such as speech and physiotherapy.
“The government cannot continue to pretend that class size and complexity do not matter,” Schilling said. “The premier and the minister of education must move from statements of concern to measurable action. It’s time for progress, not promises.”
