Public schools in Alberta require more than $13,000 taxpayer dollars to educate a student while independent and charter schools require under $5,300 and $9,000 respectively.
independent schools
With independent school enrolment rising even as the school-age population shrinks, the share of students enrolled in independent schools is growing all across the country.
In Ontario, more and more parents are choosing to enroll their children in independent schools.
Expectations are growing in many circles that the new NDP government in Alberta will be transformative.
While much has been made about the ‘resolution’ of the teachers’ job action in Ontario, most of the discussion has missed two fundamental aspects of the debate: school choice and unionization in the public sector.
Ontario needs a more supportive climate for private schools including access to the kind of financial support provided by other large provinces.
“The construction of narratives,” wrote the late Neil Postman, “is a major business of our species.” The New York cultural critic, writing in a 2000 book, mused about how difficult it was to move people from myths to facts. Skip ahead to the 21st century, and a myth that needs an empirical reality check: Taxpayers subsidize private schools.