As with any Canadian province, the Alberta Legislature has (almost) exclusive authority to make laws respecting education. Since 1905 the Legislature has used this capacity to continue the model of locally elected public and separate school boards which originated prior to 1905, as well as to create and/or regulate universities, colleges, technical institutions and other educational forms and institutions (public charter schools, private schools, home schooling). Regions Political culture Foreign relations Other countriesAtlas  Politics Portal      Canada is a federation which consists of ten provinces that, with three territories, make up the worlds second largest country in total area. ... The Legislative Assembly of Alberta meets in the provincial capital, Edmonton. ...

K-12

The first schools in what is now Alberta were parochial, that is, they were organized, owned and operated by Church clergy, missionaries, or authorities, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. A nominal fee was often charged for the attendance of students at these schools, and the fee was more often waived, as an act of charity or as an act of proslytizing, or as an act of local solidarity.

The first "free" school (which would now be called a public school) in what is now Alberta, was established in the hamlet of Edmonton, in the Northwest Territories, in early 1881. The school was established before the Northwest Territories had a Territorial Assembly, and before there was any law for the Territory respecting schools, or local government, or local taxation. The people of the hamlet of Edmonton elected trustees to govern the establishment and operation of the school, and submitted to an informal local taxation entirely on the basis of local solidarity. For other geographical names that include Northwest, see Northwest. ... Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state or province. ...

Between 1883 and 1905 a system of education developed in Alberta by which public education was available in every community once the local population initiatied its introduction; and separate school education could be provided subsequently, provided certain conditions were met. This system, by which public education was to be universally available and separate school education available under certain conditions, was the system which the federal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier enshrined in the constitituion of Alberta (the Alberta Act) in 1905. // Public education is education mandated for the children of the general public by the government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by taxes. ... A separate school is a publicly funded school which includes religious education in its curriculum, as opposed to a private school or public school. ... Sir Wilfrid Laurier, PC, GCMG, KC, BCL, DCL, LLD, DLitt, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from July 11, 1896, to October 5, 1911. ... The Alberta Act, effective September 1, 1905, was an act of the Canadian parliament to establish and provide for the government of the province of Alberta. ...

There are forty-two public school jurisdictions in Alberta, and seventeen operating separate school jurisdictions. Sixteen of the operating separate school jurisdictions have a Roman Catholic electorate, and one (St. Albert) has a Protestant electorate. In addition, one Protestant separate school district, Glen Avon, survives as a ward of the St. Paul Education Region. The City of Lloydminster straddles the Alberta/Saskatchewan border, and both the public and separate school systems in that city are counted in the above numbers: both of them operate according to Saskatchewan law. Motto: Multis E Gentibus Vires (Latin: The Strength of Many Peoples) Capital Regina Largest city Saskatoon Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Gordon Barnhart - Premier Lorne Calvert (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation September 1, 1905 (Split from NWT) (9th (province)) Area  Ranked...

The most recent significant development in the governance of education in Alberta has been the emergence of Francophone education authorities in response to the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). There are five Francophone authorities in Alberta. In the south a public Francophone authority and a separate Francophone authority share co-terminous boundaries. In the north there are three authorities which provide both public and separate school education. The Francophone authorities, together, cover the province, but they are not required to provide Francophone education from place to place, except where numbers warrant, and it is the responsibility of the board of the authority to decide whether numbers warrant. The Charter, signed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1981. ...

For many years the provincial government has funded the greater part of the cost of providing K - 12 education. Prior to 1994 public and separate school boards in Alberta had the legislative authority to levy a local tax on property, as supplementary support for local education. In 1994 the government of the province eliminated this right for public school boards, but not for separate school boards. Since 1994 there has continued to be a tax on property in support of K - 12 education; the difference is that the mill rate is now set by the provincial government, the money is collected by the local municipal authority and remitted to the provincial government. The relevant legislation requires that all the money raised by this property tax must go to the support of K - 12 education provided by school boards. The provincial government pools the property tax funds from across the province and distributes them, according to a formula, to public and separate school jurisdictions and Francophone authorities. Property tax, millage tax is an ad valorem tax that an owner of real estate or other property pays on the value of the property being taxed. ... A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors of a school, local school district or higher administrative level. ...

In addition to the property tax collected, the provincial government allocates money, each year, from the General Revenue Fund, for the support of K - 12 public and separate school education. In the case of the money drawn from the General Revenue Fund, it is also used to provide full financial support for charter schools, a type of public school that does not charge tuition (and receives the same funding per student that a public district school would receive). Private schools and homeschooling receive some funding, but parents will pay a substantial portion of the cost. Alberta charter schools are a special type of public schools, which have a greater degree of autonomy than a normal school, to allow them to offer programs that are significantly different than regular public schools operated by district school boards. ... Private schools, in the United States, Australia, Scotland, and other English-speaking countries, are schools not administered by local or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public funds. ... A young girl studying at home in a 1896 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. ...

Public and separate school boards, charter schools, private schools, and home schoolers all follow the Program of Studies and the curriculum approved by the provincial department of education (Alberta Education). Public and separate schools, charter schools, and approved private schools all employ teachers who are certificated by Alberta Education, they administer Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Examinations set by Alberta Education, and they may grant high school graduation certificates endorsed by Albera Education.

Since 1994 all boards with a civil electorate (public, separate, Francophone) are funded almost entirely by the provincial government. School boards may, and many do, allow the school administration to levy fees for books and special materials, special programs or services, etc. Such fees range from $20.00/student/year (more or less) to $750.00/student/year.

Current issues for K - 12 (civil electorate) education in Alberta include, but are not limited to:

1. the balance of power between school board trustees and the province
2. the level of funding, which school boards tend to feel is inadequate
3. disputes between the school boards and the province, over ownership and control of schools and local facilities;
4. issues over who locally elected school boards, and their employees, are accountable to

Charter schools, private schools, and home schooling each have their own issues.

Approximately 595,000 students are educated in Alberta.

Post-secondary

Alberta's oldest and largest university is Edmonton's University of Alberta. The University of Calgary, once affiliated with the University of Alberta, gained its autonomy in 1966, and is now the second largest university in Alberta. The University of Lethbridge has campuses in Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge. Athabasca University focuses on distance learning. The University of Alberta (U of A) is a public coeducational research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. ... Arch marking entrance to campus The University of Calgary is a public university located in the north-western quadrant of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ... The University of Lethbridge sits among the coulees on the scenic west side of the Oldman River in the city of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. ... Athabasca University, headquartered in Athabasca, Alberta, is a fully accredited institution specialized in the delivery of distance education courses and programs. ... // Distance Education is a field of expertise exploring situations in which the learner and the teacher are separated in time, space or both. ...

There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes, NAIT and SAIT^[1]. There is also a large and active private sector of post-secondary institutions, including DeVry University. Money given from tax revenue or other govenmental sources to an individual, organization, or entity. ... The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is located in Edmonton, Alberta. ... Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, or SAIT (say-t) as its referred to locally, is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ... The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. ... DeVry University and DeVry Institute of Technology are divisions of Devry Inc. ...

Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions. There has been some controversy in recent years over the rising cost of post-secondary education for students (as opposed to taxpayers). In 2005, Premier Ralph Klein made a promise that he would freeze tuition and look into ways of reducing schooling costs^[2]. So far, no plan has been released by the Alberta government. Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ralph Phillip Klein MLA (born November 1, 1942), leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, is the current premier of the Canadian province of Alberta. ... Albertas first Legislature, Edmonton, 1906 The politics of Alberta are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces. ...

See also

• Public School Boards' Association of Alberta
• List of Alberta school boards
• Alberta charter schools