Page Content
Is a push for greater privatization of education behind the Alberta government’s decision to increase funding to exclusive private schools?
Accredited private schools will now receive 70 per cent of per student grants available to public jurisdictions, a hike from the 60 per cent funding that has been in place since 1998. For the first time, private schools are also now eligible to receive First Nations, Métis and Inuit grants, Northern Allowance, purchasing cost adjustment and plant operations and maintenance grants.
“The decision is an assault on public education,” said Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) President Frank Bruseker. “It is a means of sneaking privatization in the back door under the cloak of choice and accountability.”
The government’s July 30 press release announcing the funding change claims the “province maintains commitment to educational choice” and touts “increased accountability measures” to which eligible schools must agree. While these measures are new to private schools, public educators are already familiar with them. Participating private schools will now have to use the government survey tool, report on its results and respond to deficiencies.
“Using choice and accountability to justify this decision is absurd,” said Bruseker. “The existing public school system, which is fully accountable to the government, provides students with top-notch education and choice in abundance.”
ATA concerns with private schools revolve mainly around democratic accountability, universal access, prohibition on tuition, and professionalism of teachers. Alberta’s public education system offers a wide variety of program choices to a diverse range of students while maintaining accountability to taxpayers through democratically elected trustees. As members of the ATA, public school teachers must adhere to a strict code of professional conduct whereas privately employed teachers do not.
Using taxpayers’ dollars to fund schools that can use discriminatory criteria to choose the students they wish to enrol goes against the ATA’s principles of equal access to education, said Bruseker. “Public education is free and accessible to every child in Alberta. Unelected private boards can exclude students based on language, religion, ability to pay, and academic needs and abilities.”
Increasing funding to private schools frustrates Alberta’s teachers, who are seeking improvements to facilities and conditions in public schools. Private schools now receive a 22 per cent increase in funding over last year in contrast to the 4.53 per cent increase for public education. While private schools were previously ineligible to receive operations and maintenance grants, they can now receive up to $530 per pupil per year in public funds to upgrade privately owned facilities.
Coincidentally, the decision of the government was announced in the same week that a Statistics Canada report showed that Alberta led the way in increasing enrolment in public schools (www.statcan.ca, under Education, Training and Learning, July 28, 2008).
“Public schools are Alberta’s first choice for education,” added Bruseker. “This decision takes taxpayers’ money out of public schools and dumps it into elitist private interests.”
Also in News Views
