Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Public education advocates call on Alberta to axe funds to private schools

Shazam · 04-19-2016, 07:20 AM

My 9 year old in grade 4 was assessed as gifted last year. We applied for both the GATE program and Westmount Charter.

A few things:

- All schools in Alberta must follow the Alberta Program of Study.
- Private schools and charter schools are two different things. Private schools do their own thing. Charter schools follow a mandate. Private schools charge tuition, Charter schools do not. Charter schools, since they derive most of their funds from Alberta Education are much more accountable in terms of finances and academic results to them.
- Very few schools in Calgary (and I'm sure everywhere else in Alberta) are funded 100% from taxes. Fees and fundraising efforts are very important at even public schools.

We chose Westmount. They dedicate a lot of resources (read: people they hired) in the form of teaching and learning assistants and student support specialists. They are a very lean operation. You can go to their website and view their financial statements (http://westmountcharter.com/pdfs/Fin...roved_2015.pdf), their academic results (http://westmountcharter.com/pdfs/acc...ar_summary.pdf) and their staff lists (http://westmountcharter.com/info/Con...gh_Campus.html)

Both GATE and Westmount turn away many qualified applicants. The practical fact of the matter is that even if all that money was diverted back to the public school boards, it'd all go to the kids that got added back anyhow.

Also, lost in the shuffle is that fact that home schooled children get funds too, which they would also lose.

Man, no one wants a special snowflake. But my daughter needs more challenging studies and some better emotional and social support at school. I'm 100% certain that GATE could never offer the sort of support services that Westmount has. The money would be too spread out. The amount of academic rigor at Westmount is very high - they do the APOS in 60% of the time at a regular school.

The CBE tries. They really do. We have been extremely lucky at her current elementary school. I have met many dedicated and simply awesome teachers, VPs and principals. But they are also the ones that realize the most the limitations of such large, behemoth systems. Principals do have basically carte blanche as to how their schools are operated within the scope provided to them. However they (and therefore the children) are at the mercy of the functions outside of their purvey. For those I can say that the CBE still needs some serious work.

I guess I'm just afraid that the charter schools are going to be caught in the crossfire with all the blasting that the private schools are getting over this matter.

I did attend quite a few private school open houses. Some are quite nice. Yeah, a lot are for rich kids. I know the assistant Dean of Math at the U of C and she finds their students are awful even with the supposed grades they receive. There are however a few like Calgary Academy, Rundle Academy (NOT College) and Foothills Academy that offer services that could never be offered in the public system without a whole lot of massive, massive effort.

I really hope there's room for something different.

I'll leave this here. I knew Reed (and many of the other people mentioned in this article) personally. I tried to make friends with him in high school. He was far too damaged by then.

http://calgaryherald.com/life/swerve...-misunderstood

04-19-2016, 07:20 AM	#132
Shazam Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Memento Mori Exp:	My 9 year old in grade 4 was assessed as gifted last year. We applied for both the GATE program and Westmount Charter. A few things: - All schools in Alberta must follow the Alberta Program of Study. - Private schools and charter schools are two different things. Private schools do their own thing. Charter schools follow a mandate. Private schools charge tuition, Charter schools do not. Charter schools, since they derive most of their funds from Alberta Education are much more accountable in terms of finances and academic results to them. - Very few schools in Calgary (and I'm sure everywhere else in Alberta) are funded 100% from taxes. Fees and fundraising efforts are very important at even public schools. We chose Westmount. They dedicate a lot of resources (read: people they hired) in the form of teaching and learning assistants and student support specialists. They are a very lean operation. You can go to their website and view their financial statements (http://westmountcharter.com/pdfs/Fin...roved_2015.pdf), their academic results (http://westmountcharter.com/pdfs/acc...ar_summary.pdf) and their staff lists (http://westmountcharter.com/info/Con...gh_Campus.html) Both GATE and Westmount turn away many qualified applicants. The practical fact of the matter is that even if all that money was diverted back to the public school boards, it'd all go to the kids that got added back anyhow. Also, lost in the shuffle is that fact that home schooled children get funds too, which they would also lose. Man, no one wants a special snowflake. But my daughter needs more challenging studies and some better emotional and social support at school. I'm 100% certain that GATE could never offer the sort of support services that Westmount has. The money would be too spread out. The amount of academic rigor at Westmount is very high - they do the APOS in 60% of the time at a regular school. The CBE tries. They really do. We have been extremely lucky at her current elementary school. I have met many dedicated and simply awesome teachers, VPs and principals. But they are also the ones that realize the most the limitations of such large, behemoth systems. Principals do have basically carte blanche as to how their schools are operated within the scope provided to them. However they (and therefore the children) are at the mercy of the functions outside of their purvey. For those I can say that the CBE still needs some serious work. I guess I'm just afraid that the charter schools are going to be caught in the crossfire with all the blasting that the private schools are getting over this matter. I did attend quite a few private school open houses. Some are quite nice. Yeah, a lot are for rich kids. I know the assistant Dean of Math at the U of C and she finds their students are awful even with the supposed grades they receive. There are however a few like Calgary Academy, Rundle Academy (NOT College) and Foothills Academy that offer services that could never be offered in the public system without a whole lot of massive, massive effort. I really hope there's room for something different. I'll leave this here. I knew Reed (and many of the other people mentioned in this article) personally. I tried to make friends with him in high school. He was far too damaged by then. http://calgaryherald.com/life/swerve...-misunderstood __________________ If you don't pass this sig to ten of your friends, you will become an Oilers fan. Last edited by Shazam; 04-19-2016 at 07:28 AM.