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PERSONAL OPINION
Freedom in education

John H. Redekop

In recent months, the media have reported a great furor in Ontario concerning school vouchers. This policy shift by Ontario’s Conservative government is viewed by many as a bold initiative. Supporters of Ontario’s 73 private Christian schools and supporters of the many other private schools are delighted because they see this reform as the beginning of the end of “double taxation”. Critics see the change as a crippling blow to public education.

I strongly support public education. I also believe that most public school teachers – and I have worked with many – are highly dedicated and are doing a fine job. But I also believe that some very serious problems have developed in many educational jurisdictions and that therefore the time has come to give parents more choice.

Some background information may be useful. Most provincial governments presently provide direct grants to private religious and secular schools. Generally these grants amount to half or less of the operating costs. In most provinces, no funds are made available for the acquisition of land or the construction of buildings. In Ontario, because of certain provisions in the 1867 constitutional agreement, Roman Catholic schools are fully funded. Up to the present time, however, Ontario has not provided any assistance to non-Catholic religious schools or to secular private schools.

Ontario’s new policy, closely watched by governments in the other provinces, will provide choice, in the form of education vouchers, directly to all parents. This means that the parents, presumably in consultation with their children, can decide which schools their children will attend. They will present their vouchers to the selected school, which will then collect the funding from the provincial ministry. Not the school board, not the director of education and not the ministry but only the parents (or guardians) will decide who attends where.

For the first time in Canadian history, parents will have full power to decide where public funds for education will be spent. Beginning this September with a tax credit of 10% of tuition fees, the program is scheduled to be fully implemented by September 2006. At that time, parents will get a tax credit of 50% of tuition costs, up to a maximum of $3,500 per student each year.

Understandably, most school boards, most teachers in the public system and opposition politicians, at least in Ontario, are vehemently opposed to this fundamental change. They accuse the Harris government of trying to destroy public education, of creating a caste system, of pandering to elites, of intolerance and of introducing an ideological bias against public education.

While it is true that this bold initiative will seriously weaken the autonomy and predictable funding for public schools, the teachers, the teachers’ unions, the school boards and the directors of education have no one but themselves to blame for this turn of events. Today there is widespread negative reaction towards public education in Canada, and it is growing. It falls into three broad categories.

First, many parents (not only evangelical Christians) are fed up, even angry, about the moral climates which have developed in many schools. A few days ago, I read again about a teachers’ union absolutely determined to teach in early elementary grades the moral acceptability of homes where both “parents” are lesbians or homosexual males. Parents resent such intrusion into the moral education of their children. They want to instill their own values. Other concerns deal with how sex education is handled, how religious values are taught or ignored, and how traditional homes and families are not always strongly endorsed.

A second category of complaints has to do with educational quality – or lack of it. More than a few parents are disappointed when teachers tell young students that they can spell in any fashion they wish and that they can learn in later years to get it right. I have personally encountered such situations repeatedly and in more than one province. As an educator who has taught almost 40 years – in elementary school, secondary school and university – I have seen the absolutely disastrous consequences frequently resulting from such policies. In general, many parents want higher standards, more discipline, more emphasis on basics, more teaching of respect and courtesy, a truly enlightened and open-minded teaching of both creation and the theory of evolution, and more teaching and modelling of high morality.

A third category of complaints involves the “professional” or unprofessional behaviour of certain teachers and teachers’ unions in more than a few public school systems. Many parents are disappointed and even angry when teachers are apparently more concerned about the small difference in salary increase between what school boards are offering and their union is demanding than they are about students’ welfare; they do not hesitate to go on strike or adopt “work-to-rule” policies even though it may cause the students to have lower achievements that year or even lose an entire year of schooling. For some students in their last year, it has meant the inability to get into a college or university.

Public system teachers and teachers’ unions should have seen the parental and political reaction coming. When parents are prepared to camp out overnight, or even for several days, to get their students into expensive private schools and out of certain public schools, then surely the handwriting is on the wall. Eventually, elected politicians tend to take note of what majorities or even large minorities want. In this connection, it is important to note that according to a recent COMPAS public opinion poll, “A majority of Canadians [60%] support tax relief for parents who send their children to private schools.” Only 33% think that the parents should pay the full cost.

Some critics insist that the educational voucher system is undemocratic because students will not all have the same educational experience. I disagree. Democracy does not require common experiences or similar outcomes, only similar opportunities. These are not being denied. Parents will have the democratic right to send their children to whatever school they choose. Funding will be equal. If schools meet needs, then students will come. If schools let standards slide and ignore parental and community concerns, then the teachers’ jobs in those schools may indeed be at risk.

Let me state part of the issue quite candidly. Some teachers’ unions are presently controlled by left-leaning, morally relativistic leaders. Some appear to be definitely biased against Christianity. Most communities in Canada, however, have not embraced such values. It should not be assumed that, over time, this would not lead to a parting of the ways. The time for much more educational accountability is at hand. Many Christian parents will rejoice.

John H. Redekop is on the faculty of Trinity Western University and is a member of Bakerview MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C.

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Last modified October 5, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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