Faking Catholicism so my kid can go to the Catholic school

[Nage Waza]

I have been waiting a long time for the banning of ALL government funded religious schools to go along with mandatory non religious curriculum. Perhaps a class is offered describing religions, but that is it.

Want a kid to learn about religion? Make them go evenings and weekends, on your dime. The fact someone cannot go to the local school because they don't believe in a tale that is less real than Star Wars, unbelievable and should be unacceptable.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

The Public/Catholic system is basically entrenched as part of our Constitution, so it isn't really discrimination. I am with Slava on this one. Would be way more efficient to combine the two, but it ain't happening given our history.

Other provinces have done this, or never had two boards, so it's certainly doable.

[zyzz]

My mom did something like this back in 1995 so I was able to attend a K-9 Catholic school just down the street.

[CampbellsTransgressions]

Religion class was a boatload of mostly useless BS. Maybe they taught the odd parable here and there to reinforce good morals but overall the class was useless until high school.

When kids get to high school it starts to being to serve a bit of a purpose as they start teaching about the various religions without much focus on "Jesus is the light" stuff. Having a bit of education on the western and eastern religions probably isn't the worst thing given how diverse our country is. That being said, high school religion class still has more than enough stupid "write in your journal about how you feel god has helped you this week" stuff (they actually think high school kids want to do this which is the best part).

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by GGG

If the public school would add religious sections to the curriculum I would be all for it. Even at a young age kids should be learning about other religions. Keep it fact based rather than dogmatic. To me it seems that the public solution is to eliminate all religion rather than accomodate religion. Instead of prayer to start the day there should be an opportunity for quiet reflection. The lack of any spirtuality in the public system hurts its curriculim.

When I went to public school in the 90s (in New Brunswick), we learned about the beliefs, practices, and history of the major world religions as part of the social studies curriculum. Does that not happen in Alberta's public schools?

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

The Public/Catholic system is basically entrenched as part of our Constitution, so it isn't really discrimination. I am with Slava on this one. Would be way more efficient to combine the two, but it ain't happening given our history.

As Slava previously noted, half the provinces have already eliminated government-funded Catholic schools. Only Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta still have Catholic schools financed by the taxpayers. Every other province has already moved to secular, non-denominational education as the only publicly-funded option.

[The Goon]

Just convert. As a Catholic, I can confidently say that God likes us best. Come over to the good side.

[psicodude]

It really only depends if the school is capped or not. If not, nobody will care. If it is, they will ask for proof of baptism. There has been a few cases lately of people fighting it in court and winning, but I'm not sure if you want to be "that guy".

Originally Posted by Slava

Frankly, the idea of two entirely separate school systems is outdated and unnecessary in my opinion. We should be joining them together and leaving it at that.

Yeah, because that idea worked out so well for the Health board...

The CBE is a complete mess and has shown that they are unable to manage the amount of students they currently have. What sort of deficits will they be running if they get another 50k+ kids?

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

As Slava previously noted, half the provinces have already eliminated government-funded Catholic schools. Only Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta still have Catholic schools financed by the taxpayers. Every other province has already moved to secular, non-denominational education as the only publicly-funded option.

True, but I recall hearing it is specific to the Alberta constitution, where a clause was inserted guaranteeing a Catholic school board in order to get Quebec to agree to Alberta becoming a province. I'm sure the government could still work around that if there was the political will, but I don't think there is right now (at least not in either the PC or Wildrose parties).

[Slava]

Originally Posted by psicodude

It really only depends if the school is capped or not. If not, nobody will care. If it is, they will ask for proof of baptism. There has been a few cases lately of people fighting it in court and winning, but I'm not sure if you want to be "that guy".



Yeah, because that idea worked out so well for the Health board...

The CBE is a complete mess and has shown that they are unable to manage the amount of students they currently have. What sort of deficits will they be running if they get another 50k+ kids?

Well the CBE is a mess, but the health board was another issue. I mean sure, I also favour a super board and getting rid of the local boards, but I wasn't making that comment here! You were reading ahead I guess!

[cracher]

Originally Posted by psicodude

Yeah, because that idea worked out so well for the Health board...

The CBE is a complete mess and has shown that they are unable to manage the amount of students they currently have. What sort of deficits will they be running if they get another 50k+ kids?

The push to trim administrative fat begat the AHS superboard. AHS is a MASSIVE program (and majorly under the microscope). Hiccups along the way are a predictable outcome. From my lowly peon perspective, I actually don't mind the superboard because they came through with a bump in the codes.

School boards are a completely different issue and, hence, not a great comparison. Giving preference to Catholics in a publicly funded system is far beyond an administrative issue. It's straight up discriminatory. Without godless apostating up this thread as per OP's request, it's offensive to me to pay tax to fund something that ranks my atheist daughter as 2nd class.

Edit: the more I think about this, the more mad I get. My taxes do go to the catholic board because I accepted 10k from my catholic parents towards my first downpayment in exchange for supporting the board. I will repay them tomorow to release me from the agreement.

[Cheese]

all Catholics fake it anyways...I wouldnt worry about it!

[Sr. Mints]

I'd be willing to part with my baptism certificate, for a modest fee, of course.

He-who-didn't-even-know-we-had-certificates

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by cracher

School boards are a completely different issue and, hence, not a great comparison. Giving preference to Catholics in a publicly funded system is far beyond an administrative issue. It's straight up discriminatory. Without godless apostating up this thread as per OP's request, it's offensive to me to pay tax to fund something that ranks my atheist daughter as 2nd class.

I can agree with this point actually. I believe that this is the main reason why the Catholic system can no longer force the issue. They are being funded by tax dollars and therefore, should not be able to discriminate in any way. I made the comparison to the AHS board because, like healthcare, education needs to be somewhat regionalized as different parts of the province face very different issues.

Originally Posted by cracher

Edit: the more I think about this, the more mad I get. My taxes do go to the catholic board because I accepted 10k from my catholic parents towards my first downpayment in exchange for supporting the board. I will repay them tomorow to release me from the agreement.

Just to be clear, nobody decides to funnel their tax dollars to one board or another. Every kid in the province gets funded a certain dollar amount, regardless of board (private and charter included). That little checkmark you fill in during the census just let's the government know that there is still a demand for the separate system. I would say you won that deal with your parents.


I don't have a problem with combining or sharing a lot of services in education and believe a lot of money could be saved in some areas. I just know that there are a lot of small Districts in this province that are achieving incredible things while the CBE continues to flounder. There is something to be said about the cost of running a massive District and how economies of scale seem to work in reverse at a certain size.

[DAN0383]

I went to catholic school's from elementary all the way through high school and I'm not baptized... my mom lied to them and told them she could not get ahold of my baptismal certificate because it was in France (her home country, she told them she had me baptized there when I was a baby on a trip home).

[afc wimbledon]

I can confidently say, as a descendant of John Knox, the founder of the free Church of Scotland, who was known to scream 'ye papist whore, get back to France' to the very catholic Mary Queen of Scots, that turning up with a baptismal from the Knox United Church might not impress a priest with even a passing knowledge of the reformation.

[Huntingwhale]

You can lie to the school board, but Jesus will know.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by zyzz

My mom did something like this back in 1995 so I was able to attend a K-9 Catholic school just down the street.

She sent you to school with dogs?

[Traditional_Ale]

Seeing as most Catholics fake Catholicism anyway, I don't see what the big deal is.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by GGG

The lack of any spirtuality in the public system hurts its curriculim.

As well as the students ability to think critically. Religion is one of the most fascinating subjects to study because it's so complex, historied and full of areas to explore. I agree, it should be taught. The school system completely ignores one of the most influential institutions in the history of man.