Re: Education questions abound, p. 25, Sept. 17 Gazette.
I am writing in response to George Thatcher of Trochu who in a recent letter to the editor made some statements that I found rather misleading.
I agree with some of George’s contentions that politicians should be tested to see if they have the skills to manage the taxpayers’ money. That would certainly be a step in the right direction. And tying funding of schools to test scores is certainly a recipe for disaster. George makes some valid points.
However, he brings up the tired, old arguments about how much public money goes to support private schools and how we could help to balance the provincial budget if all that money were reallocated to public education.
This idea is based on a flawed premise. Not only do private schools serve the public good by providing a quality education to 34,000 Alberta children, they do so at a considerable cost savings to Albertans.
While the public purse pays about $5,200 towards the education of a student in a private school, that same child would cost $13,000 in the public school system. In addition to this, private schools receive no funding for capital costs or transportation, and no funding towards teacher pensions. What they receive amounts to about 35 per cent of what a public school student receives. So private schools actually save the taxpayer millions of dollars each year.
Alberta has an excellent system of education, which provides a range of choice as is appropriate in a pluralistic society. In addition to the public system, there are the Catholic/separate system, Francophone schools, charter schools, private or independent schools and parents who choose to home educate. We should celebrate and further enhance the collaborative approach that has allowed Alberta children to experience significant success.
And by the way, the private schools in this province are doing at least as good a job in this area as public schools are as exam results and parental survey results would show, and they do it at a substantially reduced cost.
Independent schools in Alberta are turning out hundreds of responsible citizens every year who are contributing members of society and by so doing are contributing in a real way to the public good. Therefore, it is not unreasonable that they receive a share of public funds.
I encourage Mr. Thatcher to visit some private schools in the area to give him another perspective on this matter.
- Garry K. Anderson,
Didsbury
