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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

@smartalecw.bsky.social

470 followers 830 following 740 posts

🙃 Substitute Teacher | Union Miniboss | Intersectional Feminist 💚 Knitting & Crafts | Geeky Things | Volunteering 🇨🇦 I live, work, & play on Treaty 6 territory, specifically amiskwaciwâskahikan (ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ)

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · Aug 29

As we're waiting for press conferences, I'm re-sharing an article I published in June.

Substitute teachers in Alberta deal with unreasonable income and employment instability, unreasonable workplace uncertainty, and unreasonable social struggles.

medium.com/@smartalecwa...

#ABEd

Substitute Teaching in Alberta Sucks Far More Than You Know

2025/Jun/15

medium.com

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Jamie @jamieb1000.bsky.social · 14h

www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/art...

‘We’re really excited by the turnout’: Edmonton rally supporting striking teachers grows daily

#abpoli #ableg #StandWithABTeachers #Alberta
#Canada #strike #FireTheUCP #FireSmith #Teachers

‘We’re really excited by the turnout’: Edmonton rally supporting striking teachers grows daily

A morning rally in support of striking teachers has seen attendance grow since it began near the Walterdale Bridge earlier this week.

www.ctvnews.ca

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Robson Fletcher @robsonfletcher.com · 1d

This method yielded an "average parental income" for public school kids to be $97,301.

For private school kids, it was $130,127.

They then excluded "elite" private schools.

And when you look only at "non-elite" private schools, the "average parental income" is $95,549.

Screenshot of column chart from the Fraser Institute report showing their calculations of "parental income" for public schools ($97,301), private schools ($130,127), "non-elite" private schools ($95,459) and "elite" private schools ($192,265).

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 13h

I cast mine on Thursday!
I appreciate the sticker, "I showed up!" Yeah, I did.

Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 13h

UofA professor Alex Da Costa: “It’s well known that these populations [Edmonton and Calgary] are growing, and with that, obviously, there will be the growth of school-aged children … it’s just a lack of planning."

Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Edmonton Journal @edmontonjournal.com · 14h

Alberta teachers say class sizes are a key issue in their strike — looking at the numbers

Beyond pay and other factors, class sizes in Alberta schools have become a contentious talking point that's played a role in the ATA strike.

bit.ly

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 23h

"During my time as minister I was instrumental in providing increased funding for private schools. Since then I have come to realize that my past support for funding to private schools was mistaken. I was wrong."

David King being a real one.
#ABEd #ABpoli

Alberta Views Magazine @albertaviews.bsky.social · 1d

"In a free society, many things are allowed to be said, done and provided that the community would not endorse or fund. Private education is an example. Public funding for private schools should end."

albertaviews.ca/private-scho...
#ABpoli #ABleg #CDNpoli #teachers

Private Schools - Alberta Views

Out of concern for the well-being of the community that I recognize how public subsidies for private schools erode our sense of connection.

albertaviews.ca

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Plague Poems @plaguepoems.bsky.social · 1d

The meeting began
with an icebreaker:
“which of your skills
would be most useful
if you found yourself
sent back in time
to the Middle Ages?”
and as I looked around
at all the unmasked faces
I was tempted to say:
I know how to
avoid the plague,
but instead I just said:
I can knit.

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Kim O 🇨🇦 @toolcutie.bsky.social · 1d

Hey Edmonton. If you're unsure or curious to find out which candidates you're most aligned with for mayor and council, this is a great tool.

edmonton.taproot.vote/2025/surveys...

Take the Taproot Survey

Where do you stand on issues raised by voters in the 2025 municipal election?

edmonton.taproot.vote

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 1d

4/9
Despite these long hours, a majority of Alberta teachers feel undervalued.

Only 35 per cent of teachers in the province believe their profession is valued by society, a drop of 11 percentage points since the 2018 survey and well below the international average of 49 per cent.

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 1d

1/9
🚨 ALBERTA TEACHERS AMONG WORLD'S MOST STRESSED & OVERWORKED 🚨

A #OECD report confirms what #Alberta #teachers have been saying: they are facing unsustainable #workloads, high #stress, and a lack of #support compared to their peers globally.

Alberta Teachers' Association
#AbLeg #AbEd #ATAstrike

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Winnipeg Free Press @winnipegfreepress.com · 2d

EDMONTON – An education expert is criticizing online lessons the Alberta government has curated for students during a provincewide teachers strike as “incoherent.”

'A big mess': Expert, parents criticize Alberta tool kit for students during strike

EDMONTON – An education expert is criticizing online lessons the Alberta government has curated for students during a provincewide teachers strike as “incoherent.”

www.winnipegfreepress.com

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 2d

They are open to associate membership. And there are a few that have Association representation in collective bargaining, if I remember correctly.

Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 2d

I've also been chosen; a safe enough person for a student to disclose abuse. Thankfully, that school still had support we could access.

It's important to recognize the care of teaching. It's a work of heart.
And we need proper supports in every school to take care of our youth.

Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 2d

It's hard having schools closed for lots of reasons but the hardest one is; for some kids school is their only safe place. I was one of them.

School staff need time, support, and resources to offer appropriate care. Those things are being eroded by the government.

#ABEd

Janet 🇨🇦 @jansplanet.bsky.social · 2d

Grateful that you are in her corner, Mark.

Consequences of the school strike.
The kids are being hurt.
Many hungry.
Many trapped in violence.
💔

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Jay Gamble @drjaydrno.bsky.social · 2d

We will use teacher salaries to bribe parents, and they will love us.

*massive protests*

We will return to the bargaining table.

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Dave Cournoyer 🇨🇦 @daveberta.bsky.social · 2d

👀 Breaking the ATA and making membership in the union optional for teachers are actual official UCP policies that were enthusiastically passed by delegates at the party’s convention last year in Red Deer.

daveberta.substack.com/p/teachers-o...

Teachers on strike in Alberta!

More than 51,000 teachers launched the largest strike the history of their profession in Alberta

daveberta.substack.com

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 2d

They don't believe in public education, the professionalism of teachers, nor union activity.

Remember Bill 32? It made it so that union folks could opt out of "non-core functions" of their unions.
albertaworker.ca/news/kenneys...

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Leeta 🇨🇦 @micropainter.bsky.social · 2d

Your child’s class size doesn’t matter…to HIM. OR Danielle.

WE STAND WITH THE TEACHERS.

#RecallNicolaides #FireTheUCP #RecallDanielle #abed #ableg #abpoli #cdnpoli #yyc #yeg #Alberta #Canada #CanadaSky

The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 2d

Demetrios Nicolaides is making the rounds on talk shows and would like you to know that class sizes don't matter that much.

/1

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli #abed

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Janet French @jantafrench.bsky.social · 2d

The Alberta government stopped tracking class sizes, and then the province's population growth really took off. @robsonfletcher.com set out to find out how the numbers of teachers compare to that growth, with the limited info available

Class size/composition is a strike issue.
#AbEd #AbLeg

ANALYSIS | Alberta stopped tracking class sizes. Then it changed its funding formula. Now, it's a teachers' strike issue | CBC News

Get a rough idea of how much Alberta’s teaching staff has grown compared to how much student enrolment has grown since the funding formula for school boards was changed.

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Kim Siever @kimsiever.bsky.social · 2d

My latest YouTube video

More houses may not solve the housing crisis

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Rl...

More houses may not solve the housing crisis

YouTube video by Kim Siever

www.youtube.com

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 2d

We should pay our elected representatives fairly.
We should also pay our teachers fairly, but here we are.

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

Alberta Views Magazine @albertaviews.bsky.social · 2d

How much should we pay MLAs?
albertaviews.ca/salary-polit...
#ABleg #ABpoli #CDNpoli

The Politics of Salaries - Alberta Views

The cynical narrative is that politicians cannot be trusted. It’s not far removed from saying that politicians don’t deserve a decent salary.

albertaviews.ca

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 2d

UCP - We want teachers back to the bargaining table!

Also UCP - The earliest we can do is the 14th!

But at least it looks like bargaining in the teachers strike will restart next week!

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

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Reposted by Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him)

The Alberta Teachers’ Association @albertateachers.bsky.social · 2d

In a special release of the ATA News's Q&A, ATA Executive Secretary Dennis Theobald addresses the decision to not picket during this strike. Read the article at abteach.cc/ATANewsQ&A and stay tuned for an online edition of the ATA News being released next week!

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Alec Walker 🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @smartalecw.bsky.social · 2d

They need to have assigned seats.