Quote:
Originally Posted by bizaro86
Charters get 100% of the funding public gets and have to take applicants on a lottery basis. They don't/can't charge tuition.
Private schools get a fraction of the public level funding from the government and can be more selective if they want to (eg some have an admissions test). They can charge additional tuition without a limit.
IMO the problem isn't charters or private schools - the problem is the government systemically underfunding education in the province.
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Technically a fraction, but 70% is a pretty large amount considering the freedoms and the amount of per-student spending private schools are synonymous with. It’s also the highest percentage in the entire country.
If private schools had more oversight and were held to the same reporting standards and transparency as public schools, I doubt it’d be an issue. Certainly few who take issue with private schools are taking issue with those designed for children with special needs and have greater funding needs because of that, but more so the “elite” schools that are charging well over $10k and still getting government funding without any measurable benefit.
I’m not sure the parents of children at West Island are really going to hurt paying an additional 10% if that funding was brought in-line with BC, for example.
While I agree the problem is under funding the public system, I think there’s probably a better equation where public funding could actually increase by decreasing some cases of private funding. It doesn’t have to be “current state” or “close all the private schools” as the two options.