Calgary's Catholic School District is going into the red and it blames the province.

The Catholic school board says the Stelmach government isn't providing enough support for education.

"We have a history of 125 years and this is the first time we are going to have a deficit," says Marg Belcourt the chair of the Catholic school board.

The board says it has lost $6-million in revenue due to a new government funding model.

It's also been left on the hook after the province pulled out of an agreement to fund $9.3-million in raises for teachers.

To help deal with the financial crunch, the board is cutting 85.8 full time teaching positions through attrition.

The Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) says the cuts will impact students. "The more students you add to each classroom, that impacts what the teacher can do and how much individual attention each student gets," says David Cracknell.

Belcourt says the province needs to dig into its own reserve fund to support public education.

"The teachers are frustrated, the parents are frustrated, all of the trustees across the province are upset and we know that this doesn't have to be as deep as it's being cut to us. We know there is a surplus, there is a sustainability fund," says Belcourt.

The public school system is facing similar financial problems.

Last week, the Calgary Board of Education announced it's experiencing a $10-million shortfall and at least 150 teaching positions will be eliminated.

The province's education minister says funding discussions are on going but these are challenging times.

The province is facing its own funding problems with its budget projected to run a $1.7-billion deficit over the next three years.

Education officials say the province doesn't have any additional money to give to the school boards.