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A three per cent funding cut could lead to 841 fewer full-time jobs, the report said. Failing to replace the 261 employees who retired in the 2017-18 school year would also see the district workforce be reduced by 2.9 per cent, it said.

If the government had refused to fund rising enrolment this year in Edmonton public, the district would have failed to hire 188 more teachers and support staff now in classrooms, the report said.

‘Canary in the coal mine’

Janz last spring requested administrators crunch the numbers when “the rhetoric around provincial funding, and in part, education funding, was getting quite concerning,” he said Monday.

Education spending makes up about 15 per cent of Alberta’s $56.2-billion 2018-19 provincial budget.

With a spring provincial election looming, United Conservative Party (UCP) Leader Jason Kenney has said a “period of sustained fiscal restraint” would be needed to balance the budget if he was elected premier. As a party leadership candidate in September 2017, he said Alberta needs to learn how B.C. delivers the same public services as Alberta for a lower cost.

Kenney later said he’d consider a spending freeze, or one per cent to two per cent cut, depending on growth.

The NDP has campaigned against the UCP by alleging Kenney will make deep cuts to spending on health, education and seniors’ care if elected.

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Janz said the district’s calculations are a “canary in a coal mine” warning to school boards and parents about the practical effects of potential spending cuts. They could lead to even larger class sizes and less attention for students with complex needs at a time parents are demanding improvements in education.