EDMONTON – Dozens of students played hooky from school Monday to rally for teachers at Alberta’s legislature as a provincewide strike deadline nears.

They shouted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, where did the budget go?” and waved signs in solidarity with the 51,000 teachers represented by the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

One student stood with a sign that said: “I would rather be learning, but instead I’m here teaching (the government) a lesson.”

Nyla Ahmadzai, a rally organizer, said students from across Edmonton skipped classes to raise awareness about the difficult conditions teachers and students are learning in.

“My class sizes range from 37 students to 42 students,” the 16-year-old said.

“It really makes the teacher’s job harder, and it makes our job to learn even harder.”

The governmen

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