A post was split to a new topic: I post stuff a lot
Yes, I am. No one is forcing you to send your kid to private school. If you choose to opt out of the public system why should I pay for your childās private schooling? Why not let the voters decide if using tax dollars to fund private schools is an appropriate use of public money?
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taxpayers do decide it is called an election and neither party during an election is calling for stopping funding for private schools, and last time this came up in the media werenāt they saying private schools only get 25% of the funds a public school gets per kid? if anything they are under funding the private schools. it is the governments job to provide money for childrenās schooling, it does not say if that funding should only be for public schools.
As all of the money that the government has comes from voters (public, not private money) the voters should decide if it is appropriate to fund private schools. Private school parents should also be able to vote on this issue. I would accept the outcome of such a vote. Voters have never enjoyed the opportunity to weigh in on this issue.
I agree, that the next election is indeed the publicās chance to voice their views.
hate to say this the money the government gets is not just from public taxes, they get money from private businesses as well so it is public and private money that funds government, and if you want to talk about unfair businesses do not get to vote so they are getting taxed without representation
Why donāt businesses get to vote?? Everyone in BC who is 18 or older gets to vote. Youāre not making any sense at all. I think that business owners, private education parents, and anyone else should get a chance to vote on this issue:
Should money from the government be used to fund private schools? I would vote no.
Sorry folksā¦but, the government funds a free public education, a basic Canadian value . If you decide to opt out of the system, that is your choice, but opting out requires an awareness of the decision you made: that you childās education will not be publicly funded. If you decide that you cannot afford the cost you may at any time return to the publicly funded system.
To suggest a right - free public funded education - is subject to the whims of an electorate in a vote again undermines some of the basic understandings Canada is founded upon.
As for those who canāt abide by Canadian values: 'ābusinesses are peopleā too ā has reared itās face - what next? āActivist Supreme Courtā and how it is ruining the country?
Hitest, (tsk! tsk!) how could you poke the right wing Christy hordes while they are still licking their wounds from two bi-election loses in the lower mainland?
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Haha, consider it a lapse in judgement. One finds entertainment in the oddest places.
Free public education, a basic Canadian valueā¦ I absolutely agree. So why shouldnāt some of us be allowed to ātop upā that funding and purchase a better education for our children?
Remember that private school parents, in general, already pay a lot more tax than public school parents. So they are already heavily subsidizing the public school system. In fact they are getting a lot less back from the government than they are putting in. You are proposing that, further to this, their children should be denied any education funding at all. This is funding that has in effect already been paid for by their higher taxes.
There is a common misconception that government money just appears out of nowhere. Wrong. It comes mostly from taxation on wealthy individuals and businesses. Successful parents are already paying a tax rate of more than 50%. Now you are suggesting that public services should be denied to them too?
got a better idea give everyone with a school age child a $1000 voucher marked school only, and then tell them that is their education money for the year and they can use it at any school they wish to go to whether private or public. That way the public can actually make their own decision, not the government or external forces that hate private schools. simple and effective. let the naysayers begin.
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Hereās another idea. Make it as easy to fire teachers in public schools as it is in private schools. In fact, why not give the parent committees more power to fire school staff? I think youād be amazed how teaching standards would improveā¦
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But you are allowed to ātop up that fundingā: you can join the push for a well funded public education and offer support to your local schools and school district to access more funds from the public purse.
You choose to drop out of public education and pay more for an elitist program for you child - so be it. If you wish more money for your childās private education might I suggest you advocate for donations from wealthy individuals and businessesā¦Iām sure theyāll rush to your aid. (PS I do sympathize with the slump your investments must be going through that you feel the need to beg from the public purse. Or is your stance political rather than need based}.
Jabber63: there is another thread on this board that provides you with a link to an opinion survey providing an opportunity to express your opinion on the financial needs in this District - just in case you missed it.
To both Jabber63 and Investor: donāt you feel the least bit of shame for using your political and economic agenda to restrict a childās access to a full and free public education?
We do have a well established, although underfunded public education system that is embedded in Canadian values - recognized world wide as being of high quality. If you choose not to accept and rather advocate for change of a Canadian value: might you not be considered a naysayer? Weāll understand your hateā¦.
Ah so it all comes back to āelitismā. Now I understand. NDP voter?
This is an educational discussion: not one of politics. Continuing to push your political, social and economic agendas really is another issue. In educational terms the difficulty you are experiencing staying focussed on a topic might be considered (ironically) an issue of poorly developed "executive functionā
@chien22 Politics infuses any debate like this, as it should. Your leanings are clear, as are mine.
Your mistake is thinking that private education and public education are two separate systems. In reality, they are part of a larger system that offers choice to its users. Choice is not a concept that is much loved by left-leaning types such as yourself, but it is usually beneficial to overall standards.
The choice I have made is to spend the government funding available to my child on a private education. The school he goes to exists on a continuum that includes private schools, religious schools, Montessori, Waldorf, French immersion, and of course regular public schools. To penalize that choice by denying any funding to my child seems a little mean-spirited, to say the least.
As stated earlier, kids in private school get less funding than kids in public school. Their parents also, as a rule, pay a lot more tax. So private school parents are really subsidizing the public school kids. This might be an uncomfortable truth for you.
Private school, especially the local one, is not a choice for all parents and their children. It has a selection process which excludes students with i. e. intensive behaviour, low income, not enough parental support.
The school has a process of screening their applicants to exclude certain children from attending.
In contrast public schools have an open door policy and except any student that desires to go there.
Jabber63 and Investor, you are paying what you call higher taxes to keep those students out of private school that are ānot desiredā by private school.
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with TPP being signed by the majority of countries involved i hope the Canadian Teachersā Federation (CTF) can keep education of the table. scary times ahead for everyone in our country with the TPP being signedā¦
The concept of an elite or elitism existed prior to the development of the current political ācodeā usage. To ascribe certain political leanings to a person based on the use of the word is spurious ā it was Preston Manning who grew the Reform Party portraying it as a movement to wrest power from the āOttawa eliteā. (We all know the Reform movement was extreme left wing).
That every act of education is a political act is a maxim. But āpoliticalā in a much wider sense than the narrow party (NDP vs. Liberal etc.) perspective that you adopt. As for choice ā you made one ā to drop out of the funded public system. But being a wily investor your decision has led you to realize that turning education into a marketable commodity can be quite profitable. (I am not questioning the reasons you gave for your decision.)
The choice you made, to leave the funded public education stream for private enterprise schooling, was the act you took to penalize your child ā by denying access to public education funding (live with it) and accept responsibility for your action.
As for your passing reference to āstandardsā ā big money is being made in the U.S. in writing, re-writing, testing and re-testing to achieve standards with so little of value being achieved that many states are moving away from the āstandardsā based approach.
That politics infuses any discussion about education - true: itās just that you have defined a very narrow and self serving definition of provincial party politics as the touchstone for this discussionā¦which will not led to a worthwhile educational conversation in general.