Canada is a global leader in equitable access to high-quality public education. Across the country we are seeing conservative premiers and governments erode public education, continuing to push for various types of private education instead. Research shows that Canadians are heavily in favour of public education, but privatization continues to creep into education as these provincial governments supported by right-wing think tanks cut funding for public education. The Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation has committed to a new research project and the production of a final publication for broad distribution in a nationwide campaign to combat and reverse the privatization of our public education.
Recent polling for the Canadian Teacher’s Federation (CTF-FCE) done by Abacus Data shows Canadians hold a positive view of public education, with strong support for public education spending and strong agreement that public education improves the lives of Canadians, promotes equality, and is connected to the Canadian identity. The vast majority of Canadians have benefited from our public school system, as more than nine in ten Canadian students attend public primary and secondary school.
This overall rosy picture, however, masks a more complicated and sinister story: privatization, in its various forms, is on the rise across Canada and is lowering our standard of education and driving inequality between rich and poor. As well as creating unsafe and overloaded classrooms for our public school teachers. Guided by political trends from the United States and under the guise of “school choice,” well-funded right-wing think tanks like the Fraser Institute and Cardus are making space for conservative governments to advance privatization, and these same governments are seizing opportunities to enrich investors at the expense of everyday Canadians.
Public healthcare has faced a similar creep of privatization, and again the right-wing think tanks of Canada are using the same playbook to push for privatization of education. First play; a conservative government underfunds public education through austerity. This creates a deficit in education, that is then filled by private education as a solution to the problem that they caused. Rather than letting these private schools operate on their own merits, these same conservative governments provide subsidies to ensure they can provide different education to a select group of students at the expense of everyone else in the public system. Once this has started, those same think tanks like the Fraser Institute continue to build the narrative by putting out customized research data with tailored results for these publicly subsidized private schools, when in reality it is the underfunding of public education causing any discrepancy. Conservative governments then use these "identified" discrepancies as justification for further cuts to public funding while funneling it to private education businesses. Statistics Canada data is already showing that private school enrollment has been steadily increasing compared to public school enrollment.
This Americanization of our public education system, also has international implications with Canada being a global leader in public education, as it remains one of the highest quality and most equitable in the OECD. The increase of private education would undermine our international standing and deprive Canadians of an essential public good. At a time when the American Administration is causing chaos internationally we must stand against this attempt to privatize our education. This is why the DCLF has taken on this research project. The report from this research will be widely accessible, and geared to empowering public education advocates as well as providing information for parents, students, teachers, and politicians. The report will focus on two key areas: the social and economic benefits of public primary education and the risk, and reality, of privatization.
There is an urgent need for robust, evidence-based research that counters privatization narratives and intervenes in the public policy debate in favour of keeping public education a public good. Acting now is important for helping to protect public education as a part of the Canadian identity, similar to Medicare, protecting it from predatory conservative governments and right-wing think tanks.
Social and Economic Benefits
The report will initially explore the social and economic impacts of both public policy, and accessibility in order to further make the case for public education, while also factoring in the advocacy and experience of both educators, and unions in the sector. Key areas of focus will be:
- Social Benefits - Summary of the literature on the impacts of public education on measures of economic inequality and social mobility, social cohesion/belonging, crime and recidivism, public health, democratic citizenship, and outcome gaps by race or ethnicity
- Economic Benefits - the economic case for investing in public primary education including workforce and skills development, productivity, economic growth, reductions in social, health and criminal justice spending
Risk and Reality of Privatization
The second section of the report will focus on revealing the fallout and social impacts of a weakened, and underfunded public education system, shedding light on the reality of what will happen if the growing threat of privatization is left unchecked. Key areas of focus will be:
- Defining privatization -Summarizing the various dimensions of privatization and explaining how it is playing out in Canada (private/independent schools, targeted private schools related to culture, religion, or the provision of special education, vouchers and other public subsidies, parental funding, private sector involvement, etc)
- Mapping privatization -Original data analysis and visualization, illustrating the latest trends in education spending, student enrollment, and the spread of private schools including custom data from Statistics Canada and administrative sources
- Discursive and power analysis - A summary of the “school choice” and educational pluralism arguments and engagement with the organizations and funders supporting work to further privatization in Canada.
Research Team and Approach
The Foundation is excited to have expert researchers leading this project from the political, economic, and academic arenas. The economic analysis and public policy recommendations will be derived from recent data analysis, with a methodological approach and newly published educational literature to draw upon.
The DCLF is committed to working with our Labour Union Partners in Education from all of the provinces and territories coast to coast to ensure our research includes the variety of challenges facing education workers and students in all regions of Canada with a comprehensive understanding for the solutions required to stop the creep of privatization. This research will be conducted in collaboration with specialized labour departments, non-profit advocates, elected officials, and academics to ensure a complete understanding of the issue and importance of public education in Canada.
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The Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation is seeking extra funding for this project from Labour Union sponsors and individual donors. The final report will be distributed in advance to all Labour Union contributors, partners, and sponsors, as well as peer reviewed by the National Teacher Research Network before it is published. Please consider donating to support this work and helping us to protect public education against the creep of privatization and raise awareness of its importance across the country.
To Sponsor this research project please contact:
Kaylee McKellar, Administrative Assistant: [email protected]
To make an individual donation for immediate impact towards our Public Education Research Project please use this link: www.douglascoldwelllayton.ca/preventing_the_creep
