Students and parents rallied outside of Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge on Oct. 6, 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge students & parents rally as Alberta-wide teachers’ strike begins

Oct 6, 2025 | 11:26 AM

It is the second day of rallies in Lethbridge, and across much of the province, as teachers hit the picket lines in hopes of reaching a new deal with the Alberta Government.

READ MORE: Alberta’s teachers start province-wide strike

That includes a small protest outside of Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge, where students and parents showed their support for the province’s 51,000 educators.

We heard from two students, Myles Angyal in Grade 12 and Victoria Allen in Grade 10, who provided personal takes on how current education funding levels have impacted their abilities to learn.

They both say most of their classes have 37-38 students with one teacher and no educational assistants.

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Allen says one of her teachers has a class with over 40 students.

“In a lot of my classes, I see that kids – a lot of them don’t have their own desks, so like, two kids are getting put to one desk and some kids are getting put to the floor,” Allen adds.

For Angyal, the lack of teachers and assistants creates an unfavourable learning environment where students are not able to get the help that they need.

He says that if he raises his hand to ask a question, he often has to wait five-to-10 minutes to get called upon. Other times, there will be long lines of students who are waiting for assistance.

“It’s very demotivating having to wait for help when we could have so much more,” says Angyal.

The Alberta Government, as one of its proposals to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), has offered to hire an additional 3,000 teachers over three years.

Over 2,000 schools are impacted by the teachers’ strike, meaning that the current proposal would add around 1.5 teachers to each school over the course of three years.

Alberta currently has the lowest funding levels for education on a per-student basis at $11,464. The national average is $13,692 per student.

ATA Local 41 claims that, if schools in Alberta were funded at the national level, the Lethbridge School Division alone would hire an additional 208 teachers. That includes:

• Lethbridge Collegiate Institute: 27+ additional teachers
• Chinook High School: 21+ additional teachers
• Winston Churchill High School: 17+ additional teachers
• Wilson Middle School: 11 additional teachers
• Senator Joyce Fairbairn Middle School: 11 additional teachers

  @lethbridgenewsnow Lethbridge rallies support for Alberta’s striking teachers. Learn more at LethbridgeNewsNow.com #YQL #LNN #Lethbridge #Alberta #TeachersStrike #News ♬ original sound – Lethbridge News Now

For Trisha Angyal, the issue is not just about the number of teachers, but also about how many staff can support students with special needs.

She has two children who attend Winston Churchill, both of whom have learning disabilities.

She says she has applied to have them tested in hopes of securing extra support, but she was turned away as there was only enough funding for six students for the entire school all year.

The lack of support, according to Trisha, means that teachers themselves have to do more work to accommodate students with special needs.

“It’s very difficult for teachers to have so many learning plans and not enough support staff. Unfortunately, kids fall through the cracks, but I’m pretty loud and I advocate for my kids a lot,” says Trisha.

While those in attendance at the rally stated that the government needs better funding for education, Premier Danielle Smith believes that the Alberta Government has been more than generous in its offers to the ATA.

She wrote in a social media post, “We all want a fair agreement that teachers can support. Teachers, parents, and students deserve stability.”

The government’s offer to teachers includes, among other provisions:

• 12-17% salary increases
• 3,000 new teachers
• 1,500 educational assistants

“I am urging the ATA leadership to engage with teachers, determine what supports they need, and come back to the bargaining table so we can get a deal that keeps kids in the classroom,” Smith added.

READ MORE: Alberta Premier Smith urges talks as Alberta teachers launch provincewide strike

ATA President Jason Schilling, who used to teach at Kate Andrews High School in Coaldale, says the strike is about more than pay.

He says it is about the state of public education in Alberta, and that teachers need sustainable solutions.

“We’ve juggled overcrowded classrooms, added workload and government policies that were made without listening to the professionals who do this work every day. Still, we’ve shown up,” says Schilling. “We are striking to break the cycle and demand lasting change for future generations of students and teachers.”

Support is available to families during the teachers’ strike. Learn more in the article linked below.

READ MORE: More supports for families during potential teachers’ strike, free programming in southern Alberta