Alberta teachers have officially started the countdown clock toward an Oct. 6 provincewide strike, with both sides accusing the other of failing students.

"Teachers’ patience has run out," Jason Schilling, head of the Alberta Teachers' Association, told reporters Wednesday.

He announced that if there is no deal in place by Oct. 6, the union's 51,000 members will hit the picket lines.

“What teachers want is simple: classrooms that are properly funded, respect for the work that they do, and wages that reflect their value to Alberta's future," Schilling said.

The union executive has been given a strike mandate by members, but it ends Oct. 7.

The move comes more than a week after talks broke down between the union and the provincial government, with the main issues being wages and working

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