Last Updated: Wednesday - 01/05/2011

Ward 1 — West Edmonton

Richard McNally

I want to be a trustee for Edmonton Catholic School District to make a positive difference for parents, students and teachers of the district as a whole and Ward 1 in particular.

My primary initiatives will be:

1. Reduction of board governance costs by $575,000 and the money returned to the classroom.
2. Immediately reduce school fees charged to parents of the district, which substantially exceed $2 million. Eliminate all school fees, except transportation fees incurred as a result of parental or student choice, within three years.
3. Within three years, have teachers of Edmonton Catholic be the best paid in Alberta at all categories, within six years, be the best paid in Canada and, within nine years, be the best paid in North America.
4. Work to reduce class size in all schools.
5. Create strategic alliances with all stakeholders to obtain proper government funding for education of all students.

Currently, our teachers at four years of education and no experience get paid at a rate that puts them 12th in relation to all the systems in the province. By the time they reach 10 years of experience in the same category they have slipped to 30th place. This will not attract nor retain the best practitioners.

The government must finally provide the level of funding that is required to create the best education system in the country. We need to tell the government that we want them to spend our money on proper funding for education.

I have spent 23 years as a lawyer acting for school boards throughout Alberta and have witnessed the effects of under-funding. It is time to change.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter