School Choice in Canada: What Are the Options in Canada?
June 2003
More and more, parents are asserting their rights and demanding to be treated like valuable players in the education system. The movement for parental school choice has taken off in some provinces and ingenuity has been allowed to blossom. Below, we take a look at the various options that are available at this time, as well as those that are being proposed for the future.
What are the options?
Public Education
With five million students enrolled in thousands of schools across the country, public education is the norm for the typical Canadian family, and that makes sense for at least a few reasons. The most obvious are cost and proximity.
However, the wide-spread perception of poor performance and low student achievement has haunted public education in recent years. To the dismay of a growing number of parents, many public school educators are emphasizing a feel-good, politically correct agenda at the expense of reading, writing and arithmetic. This controversial mandate is angering many parents - and many teachers - who feel that the fundamentals are being sacrificed as schools focus on material they consider secondary and at odds with strongly held personal and family values. Many parents would rather see precious time and limited money spent on ensuring that students become proficient in core subjects like English and math.
A February 2003 Ipsos-Reid poll found that only 51 percent of Canadian parents are completely satisfied that their children are being provided with a good understanding of the basics. [1]
Private Education
Private schools enjoy a widespread reputation as high performance institutions. The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based think-tank publishes an annual "report card" on Canadian schools, and private schools regularly come out on top.
The common ground shared by the broad spectrum of private schools is that they offer specifically tailored education in exchange for tuition. That tailoring may take the form of an art or music emphasis, special-needs education, a religious element, an enhanced athletic program or even a "traditional" learning environment complete with uniforms and old-school discipline. Gary Duthler, executive director of the Federation of Independent Schools in Canada, estimates that up to 70 percent of private schools in this country teach from a particular religious viewpoint. [2]
Parents are increasingly opting for private education-enrolment has risen from 4.6 percent in 1987/88 to 5.6 percent in 1998/1999 of all children in Canadian elementary and secondary schools. [3]
While some provincial governments do offer tuition subsidies ranging from one- to two-thirds of the cost of public school "per-pupil operating costs," parents are responsible for the balance. A subsidy of $2,000 to $3,500 still leaves a bill of $2,000 to $10,000 per student, and parents in Atlantic provinces, where no governments offer subsidies, are on the hook for the entire cost.
"When parents choose independent schools, the vast majority do not make the decision because they can afford it," says Gary Duthler. "They make a sacrifice."
School Vouchers - Bringing Private Schooling Within Reach
The lack of public funding for private schools creates a situation in which most families have no say in where their education tax dollars are applied. Parents may disagree with what is going on in the public schools in their area, but have no power to 'vote with their feet' and move their children to an independent school. This is the problem that school vouchers have been designed to remedy.
School vouchers allow parents to apply the public education dollars allotted to their child to the school of their choice, rather than this money being given to a public school by default. Voucher systems have been established in various jurisdictions within the United States and Europe, as well as New Zealand. Results have been highly favourable. The Canadian people have signaled that they too are ready for school vouchers as 57 percent indicated in a 2001 Compas poll that they would support school vouchers. [4]
In Denmark, vouchers have been available for independent schools since the late 1800s. The system has not, as many voucher critics claim, pulled the masses away from the public schools. The majority of students in Denmark still attend government-run schools. It is said that the presence of a voucher system increases the quality of public schools as they must work to ensure that parents have a reason to stay in the public system despite the availability of private schools. [5]
Sweden implemented a voucher program in 1991 and public opinion supports this move. A majority of Swedes value their school voucher rights and think that the presence of school choice makes teachers work harder. [6] The number of independent schools in Sweden has steadily, and in some years, dramatically, increased since the introduction of school vouchers.
In the United States, the benefits of school choice have been particularly strong among low-income minority populations. An Ohio study found that African American students who were offered vouchers and used them to transfer to an independent school saw a 'moderately large' gain in their academic scores after two years. The results led authors to predict that the implementation of school choice could be very successful in reducing the 'black-white test score gap'. African American parents whose children used a voucher to move to private school, on average increased their rating of their child's school from a C+ to a B. [7] School choice has also been shown to increase parental involvement and school administrators' perceptions of parental influence. [8]
While Canada's experience with school vouchers is limited, the evidence so far supports school vouchers and other means of school choice. A 2002 study jointly released by the Fraser Institute in Canada and the American Friedman Foundation found that provinces that have school choice have the best academic outcomes. The study found that provinces in which independent schools receive funding have higher academic scores overall and higher scores for disadvantaged students. The analysis also found that in these provinces, more children from disadvantaged families are able to attend independent schools. [9]
Charter Schools
Charter schools are a new feature on the Canadian education landscape. So new, in fact, that they can only be found in one province - Alberta. Consisting so far of fewer than a dozen schools [10], the charter movement is nonetheless attracting a lot of attention and support. The same Compas poll cited above, reported that 71 percent of parents would like to have charter schools as an option. [11]
Named after the regulating contract that defines its mission and performance goals, a charter school integrates characteristics of both public and private education. Fully funded by tax dollars, a charter school does not charge the tuition fees that critics of private education consider discriminatory and prohibitive.
Admissions policies must be unbiased, catchment areas do not exist and, because charters are technically public schools, the teaching of religion is forbidden. Unlike most public schools, however, charters do not fall under the centralized control of a school board, and they tend to earn accolades for being sensitive to the needs of the communities they serve. With no designated catchment area to guarantee a student body and with the need to meet performance obligations to ensure continued funding, the very pragmatic consideration of survival spurs teachers to the pursuit of student excellence and parent satisfaction.
A charter school is created by parents or teachers with a vision to make education better, or at least different. "Different," in fact, is the key that unlocks the door to funding.
The province of Alberta approved a policy in May of 1994 allowing the establishment of charter schools. [12] Under the Alberta legislation, charter schools are not allowed to duplicate services already provided by the public system. As a consequence, charter schools exist for "gifted and talented," "English as a second language" and "at-risk" students. Others promote "Academic and Personal Excellence," pursue "back to basics" education, or focus on science and math. The schools have been embraced and between 2001 and 2002, Alberta charter schools saw an enrolment increase of 40.6%. [13]
A study released in 2003 by the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education revealed impressive academic results for Alberta's Charter schools. At most charter schools, students scored above the provincial average in all tested subjects and at all grade levels. The percentage of students scoring above the benchmarks set by the provincial government was higher for charter schools than the schools to which they were compared. [14]
In the U.S. too, charter schools have been shown to lead to incredible academic gains and to be rated highly by both teachers and parents. However, concerns are raised that charter schools allow for elitism and segregation, and that problems will arise when schools are not regulated by school boards. [15] Still, as University of Alberta education researcher Lynn Bosetti reports, "the satisfaction rates are strong for the people who know charter schools best-the parents and teachers directly involved." [16]
Home Schooling
Home-based education provides an option for parents disappointed by public and private schools or who simply feel that the family context is the best one in which to educate a child. Home schooling is not just an educational alternative, but a lifestyle choice-a second full-time income is often sacrificed for the opportunity.
By assuming near full control of their children's education, home schooled parents are able to screen out what they perceive to be negative curricular or peer influences. The reduced student-to-teacher ratio permits close monitoring of a child's needs and the tailoring of content to specific strengths and weaknesses.
Parents considering home-based education should be aware that not all colleges and universities accept home schooled students and must therefore plan accordingly. And while home schooler achievement is in the 76th percentile results on standardized achievement tests, compared to a national baseline of 50th percentile, [17] concerns are often voiced about lack of contact with other children. As the home school movement gathers strength and the size of the home school population increases, more organized "extra-curricular" opportunities like band and athletics are springing up.
As with private schools, this control comes at a price. Home schooling is legal throughout Canada, but not every province funds it and few offer support beyond a few hundred dollars per child. School choice proponents would assert that home schooling families should receive funding in an amount closer to or equal to the amount allotted to a public school for each child.
A Parent's Responsibility
The education system in Canada continues to evolve. Ontario, for example, has implemented tax subsidies for private education and, following a successful experiment begun in Edmonton a few years ago, British Columbia's Liberal government is taking steps to reduce catchment restrictions and expand public school choice. In this changing environment, parents must stay abreast of developments that may promise a better option for their children.
"Where should I send my child to school?" The correct response depends on who is asking. It very well may be the public school just down the street. It may be no school at all. But only informed parents, aware of both their children's needs and the nature of their options, can answer it properly. And it is up to government to make sure that parents are given these options.