Toronto has a two-tiered education system
The fundraising gap that exists between schools in affluent and poor neighbourhoods in Toronto has many people concerned that we are allowing large disparities to exist in our public education system. But while the disparity in fundraising perennially generates a lot of attention, there are much deeper inequities in our schools that we should be concerned about. Inequities so large that they have produced what is essentially a two-tiered education system.
First, a little perspective on the fundraising issue. On a per-student basis, the gap between the highest and lowest fundraising schools is about $600. While this may seem like a lot, remember that Ontario currently spends about $11,500 per student. And also remember that in Toronto, we allocate additional money to our neediest students through the Model Schools program. So taken together, the gap is not as large as it initially appears. And it certainly is not as large as public schools in other jurisdictions. For example, in Illinois, the funding gap between schools in affluent and poor areas is over $2,600 per student.
But apart from the funding issue, there are many indications that a two-tiered public education system already exists in our city. Certainly, the public seems to think so. It is common practice for many parents to purchase homes in certain neighbourhoods, usually affluent ones, so that their children can attend the “good” schools located in that area.
And as reported in the Star back in 2013, many other parents, perhaps those who cannot afford to live in these areas, are so desperate to get their children into these “good” schools that they are willing to lie and cheat. If we had a truly equitable public education system, this would not happen.
The main driver of this problem is segregation. Doug Willms, a professor at the University of New Brunswick and an expert on this topic, has identified two types of school segregation. The first is “horizontal segregation,” which is the degree to which students from different socioeconomic backgrounds are distributed unequally among schools. The second is “vertical segregation,” which is the degree to which students are streamed into particular schools and programs. Both types tend to lower student achievement.
In Toronto, we have high degrees of each. Because we force students to attend schools near where they live, we effectively cluster students from high income and low income families into separate schools. This exacerbates problems associated with poverty and makes achievement gaps harder to overcome. We also stream students into different categories of high school. Usually this results in students from affluent families attending academically focused schools, while students from poor families end up in vocational ones.
Thus, while students from affluent families receive enriched learning experiences with high expectations, students from low income families receive the exact op- posite. This can create a culture of low morale and low expectations among both staff and students. Upon taking a job at one of these vocational schools located in a low income area, a colleague of mine was promptly told by a longtime teacher at the school, “All we do here is keep these kids off the street.” Clearly our neediest students deserve better.
So what can we do? One thing is to open up school boundaries. While this might provoke protests from some parents, especially those in affluent neighbourhoods, the result would be schools with more diverse student populations. And it would help to mitigate some of the problems associated with school fundraising. Second, we should stop streaming students into different schools. Instead of being funneled into a rigid academic hierarchy, all students should be able to attend high schools with a comprehensive set of programs that address different types of interests and aspirations.
So while the fundraising gap certainly is an issue, our attention and effort would be better spent addressing the true inequities in our public schools. The promise of public education is to provide a highquality learning experience for all students, regardless of where they live or how much money their parents make. We have a lot more work to do before we can begin to deliver on that promise.