The President of the Alberta Teachers Association has fired off a letter to Premier Alison Redford which includes the A.T.A’s latest contract offer.

Carol Henderson calls the proposal which has been rejected by the Education Minister fair and reasonable.

Alberta’s 42,000 teachers have been working without a contract since September 1st.

Henderson says teachers are only asking for a four per cent boost in wages over a four year period with the bulk of the hike in the final year of the deal.

She says money isn’t the only issue, with teachers looking to be relieved of some non classroom duties so they can concentrate on both professional development and teaching.

Alberta Education Minister Jeff Johnson says he is both disappointed and surprised by this latest development, but doubts it will disrupt life in the classroom.

Johnson says he thought the two sides were close to a deal a few days ago, adding addressing the workload issues teachers have raised are not things that can be easily resolved.