NDP must end public funds for private schools

Those millions belong in public system, Barbara Silva and Carolyn Blasetti write.

As we look toward a new provincial budget, conversations around private school funding are circulating again. Organizations aiming to protect public education are renewing their repeated ask to defund private schools and focus public tax dollars on public schools.

We will continue to join this chorus, but we will deepen the request.

For too long, Alberta has left public education ill-defined in many respects, resulting in a widening of inequity across the province.

The most overt inequity is the diversion of approximately $250 million to private schools, while public school infrastructure crumbles, class sizes remain high, schools are overcrowded and access to basic education resources continues to deteriorate.

Surely, the millions allocated to elite private schools such as Calgary French & International School, Webber Academy and StrathconaTweedsmuir, which charge roughly $13,000, $18,000 and $21,000, respectively, could be better used helping public schools across Alberta.

These are millions of dollars that should be redirected to public schools that competed last year in the Indigo Adopt A School contest for library books.

The principal of James Short Memorial School publicly pleaded, “Our families care very much about their children, but many cannot afford to provide a large collection of books for their children at home. Because we have been without a (parent-led) society for many years, we have not had the fundraising abilities that many schools have …. Our classroom libraries are sorely lacking in adequate quality children’s literature.”

“Many families at our school have a tough time making ends meet. Some of these kids don’t have any books in their home and the books they get from the school library are the only books they ever see,” said the principal of Parkdale School in Wetaskiwin.

We question the priorities of a government that funds private schools that are able to fundraise millions of dollars each year, yet allows public school principals to publicly plead for the most basic of education resources.

Yet, private schools are not the only way public funds are diverted in the education system. There are several 100-per-cent publicly funded schools in Alberta that operate like private schools within public school boards.

Clear Water Academy is a 100-per-cent publicly funded school in Calgary under Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, a public board based in Okotoks. Clear Water charges a $10,000 family bond, with fees ranging between $12,050 to $13,700. Clear Water Academy is a public school in Calgary, designated an alternative program, operating under a public school board outside of the city, charging thousands of dollars in fees while receiving 100-per-centper-student funding from Alberta Education. Some families attending Clear Water Academy mistakenly believe it is a private school.

Masters Academy is another alternative program in Calgary, operating under the publicly funded Palliser Regional School District in Lethbridge. Their fees include a one-time cost of $1,500, a $7,000 to $10,000 family bond and tuition fees averaging $6,500 per year.

An equitable public education system should include regulations around fees, program designation, a school board’s capacity to govern outside their community and the ability of schools to deny children access.

We are not only calling for this government to end funding to private schools, but are asking for a full review of the education funding model in Alberta. Our children deserve an equitable and accessible system that is properly defined, properly funded and properly regulated.

We call on our Alberta government to conduct a full review of the current funding model, so that principals won’t have to decide between a caretaker or an educational assistant, a physical education program or a music program. So ideally, public schools across Alberta no longer have the need to enter a contest for books.

Our children deserve an equitable and accessible system.