Alberta Teachers' Association President Warns Bill 25 Enables School Surveillance

Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, pushed back sharply against the provincial government's newly tabled education legislation, calling Bill 25 a "grab-bag of amendments to the Education Act" whose title functions as clickbait rather than an honest description of its reach.

Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides introduced the bill on March 31 in Edmonton, framing it as legislation to update the Education Act. The full title is Bill 25: An Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms and Amend the Education Act, 2026. Among its provisions, it would prevent school boards from taking positions on political, social, or ideological matters not relevant to their role, require the weekly playing of the national anthem, and restrict flag displays inside and outside schools to the Canadian and Alberta flags. The bill would also give the province more authority over the naming of schools and superintendent contracts.

Schilling said ATA leadership was not consulted prior to the bill being tabled. In a written statement, he warned the legislation's vague language carries consequences beyond the politics-and-ideology framing. "While vague, this legislation may impact teachers and school leaders directly and indirectly, positively and negatively," he wrote. "We need to look beyond the clickbait title of this bill to understand its full scope — it has very little to do with politics and ideology, at least in the classroom."

Schilling told reporters that classroom neutrality is already expected of teachers, and the government is legislating a solution to a non-existent problem. "Teachers are professionals," he said, noting the implication that educators lack integrity is offensive to the profession.

Bill 25 also introduces new rules on student behaviour and school board governance, with the government saying the legislation would require school codes of conduct to clearly prohibit violence in schools and school activities. Critics, including the ATA, argue that layers of behavioral monitoring and conduct enforcement within the bill create conditions for excessive policing of what happens inside classrooms, a concern Schilling tied to the government's broader pattern of intervening in school operations without teacher input.

Schilling said that with issues stemming from overcrowded and complex classrooms still unresolved, it was disappointing to see the government pivot to what he called "virtue signalling and dog-whistling."

Schilling said the Association expects to be an engaged partner before any regulations are implemented, so that real-world classroom perspectives can be brought to the government's plans for education. The legislation, if passed, is expected to take effect for the 2026-27 school year. The ATA represents 51,000 teachers across Alberta.