Are board members on a taxpayer-funded Alberta teachers’ benefit plan jetting around the world on the taxpayer dime? 

Transparency is needed. As all school board associations should be, the Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP) should be subject to freedom of information requests so taxpayers can have access to these answers.

A recent blog post by Edmonton Public Schools Chair Michael Janz brings to light some big new questions: Why are Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan board members going to Hawaii, where else are they traveling and how much are they paying themselves with our public education dollars?

According to Janz, on May 17^th the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA…remember them?) was informed that the trustees to the Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP) enjoy “significant out-of-province travel including such locations as Hawaii for professional development.”

A little background: The Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan is essentially a government-created benefits plan for teachers. By extension, the owners are taxpayers. As noted by Janz, school boards are forced to belong to the ASBA in order to participate in the employee benefits plan. Money for the ASEBP comes from school boards through employee premiums for teachers, and school boards get their funding from Alberta Education (AKA taxpayers).

This could mean that any travel, per diems or compensation received by ASEBP board members is most likely funded by taxpayers. We need answers.

Recall that in November 2015, it was revealed that the ASBA was spending on staff perks instead of students – including an adult Easter egg hunt for staff. The ASBA has still not disclosed their expenses from the years in question. And the Alberta government has still not made the ASBA subject to freedom of information requests.

Considering the ASBA seems to be in charge of holding the ASEBP board accountable, is the fox guarding the hen house?

The ASEBP board is made up of five appointees from the ASBA and five appointees from the Alberta Teachers Association (the teachers union). When an Edmonton Public School Boards trustee asked for more information about ASEBP expenses and travel, the ASBA voted the request down.

According to Janz, ASEBP board members created their own policy that encourages each of them to attend one conference per year through their international umbrella org.

(Note to self: come up with CTF policy encouraging me to go to Hawaii every year. Pitch to boss. Try not to get fired.)

So, will the Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan board make their per diems, expenses, travel and compensation public? Will the Alberta School Boards Association make them disclose this information? Will the Alberta government make the benefit plan organization subject to freedom of information requests?

Perhaps there’s a perfectly reasonable justification for sending taxpayer-funded ASEBP board members on trips to Hawaii and “significant out-of-province travel” for “professional development.” But that case must be made to taxpayers.