'The commodification of education is never good': Concerns raised over charter schools in Alberta

Education advocates are concerned after the UCP government alluded to a planned expansion of charter schools in Tuesday’s throne speech.

Alberta is the only province in Canada that offers access to charter schools, with 15 currently operating.

“A charter school approved by the Alberta government has to have a special area of focus,” explained Lynne Paradis with the Alberta Charter Schools Association.

Charter schools receive public funding, but do not operate under the same regulations as public schools – such as having a democratically elected school board.

“It’s a way to be exclusive with public funding,” said Wing Li with Support Our Students Alberta.

SAME FUNDS, MORE COMPETITION

Lori Williams with Mount Royal University is not surprised to see the expansion of charter schools (and options for homeschooling) in the throne speech.

With Premier Jason Kenney up for a leadership review in April, she said he is most likely looking to regain support in rural Alberta – where charter schools and homeschooling will provide more options for families.

The problem, she explained, will arise if it comes at the cost of public education.

“I don’t think any Albertan is interested in seeing a system where people who are privileged or wealthy or happen to be geographically advantaged have access to choices and schools and quality of education that undermines the access to quality education for all Albertans on an equal basis,” she said.

But according to SOS Alberta, there is no way the creation of more charter schools won’t negatively affect public institutions.

“You will see a community public school struggle when charters come in,” Li said.

“Further down the line, what charter school expansion does is really creates this exclusive stream of education that’s separate from the public system,” she added, saying that public schools must admit students based on proximity – while charter schools have no such requirement.

“So only certain children will be able to access those. They can also set fees that only some families can pay. So it’s no longer a neighbourhood school.”

The Alberta Teachers’ Association is in agreement.

A statement to CTV News said: “While the details remain to be seen, it’s clear that the UCP wants to privilege those charter and private schools that serve a small percentage of the student population and to ignore the vast majority of students.”

PROVIDING CHOICE

While critics call the expansion of charter schools the “Americanization” of Alberta education, the province has justified the move as a way to provide more options for Alberta families.

Borrowing ideology, policy options and language from the United States has been long a part of Alberta’s history, according to Williams. However, when it comes to education, she maintained that Albertans have a strong desire for Canadian democratic values to be present in education for all students.

“It’s that balance between equal quality and content of education, with choice that adapts to the needs and interests of individual students and their parents,” she said.

The concern from education advocates is that the expansion of charter schools is not actually about having more options, but about having more private options operating with less oversight.

“The commodification of education is never good for society,” Li said. “It means that not everyone gets the same access.”

The UCP government will table its second budget of the pandemic on Thursday.

With files from Touria Izri.