Education in Crisis: It's Time to Fight for What Matters: The Toll of Chronic Underfunding
To understand the current crisis in Alberta’s education and post-secondary sector, we need to look at the long-term damage caused by years of underfunding.
Our education system has been eroded slowly and strategically. Government after government has cut funding or kept it stagnant while institutions were left scrambling to find revenue anywhere they could. One of the consequences has been an overreliance on international students - not to enrich the academic environment, but as a cash grab. That’s not a sustainable or ethical way to fund education.
Meanwhile, decisions about which programs are cut and which are created are often driven by politics or profit, not by the needs of students, workers, or society.
Workers Must Have a Seat at the Table
Our members in the education sector deserve better. They deserve to have their voices heard in every room where decisions are made, whether that’s academic councils, board meetings, or institutional committees. They are not just staff. They are essential to the success of every student who walks through those doors.
We need to make sure our members are not only participating in bargaining, but organizing around the collective power that comes from being strike-ready. Bargaining is more than a contract. It’s agency. It’s how workers say, “We matter.”
From Anger to Action
Right now, many members are angry. They are facing job insecurity, low and stagnant wages, disrespect, and invisibility. That anger is valid. But it can’t stop there. It must be turned into action.
Action that challenges employers. Action that brings visibility to the incredible work our members do every day. Action that reminds the public what is at stake when education is ignored or dismantled.
Education Is a Public Good
As with every AUPE sector, we’re seeing the same pattern: underfunding, understaffing, and under-resourcing. This is no accident. It comes from a deep-rooted belief, held by those in power, that public services are expendable.
We need to call that out. We also need to be clear about what’s at risk. When children are pushed through overcrowded classrooms, when post-secondary programs disappear, when tuition becomes unaffordable society pays the price.
Students leave the province. They don’t return. Our economy loses the very people we need to move it forward. And Alberta is left behind.
A Path Forward
We need to build intentional, long-term plans to address the damage that has been done. That includes fighting for stable funding, better wages, and proper staffing. But it also means encouraging our members to take up space, whether that’s attending board meetings, writing letters to industry, or participating in academic governance.
And as union leadership, we need to stay in touch with what our members are going through. We need to be visible. We need to listen. We need to show every worker in education that they are not alone, that they are seen, and that their fight is our fight.
Why I’m Running
If elected as AUPE President, I will ensure that education sector workers are not sidelined or ignored. I will fight for meaningful seats at the table, transparent funding models, and fair contracts that reflect the value you bring to your institutions and to Alberta.
You deserve a union that defends you loudly and leads with action, and not just words.I ask for your support so we can build that together.
In solidarity,
Sandra Azocar, Candidate for AUPE President
