Ontario independent schools up >50% since 2013

The number of independent schools in Ontario has grown by more than 50% in the last 10 years, despite the absence of tax funding. 

Number of independent schools in Ontario grew by 52% since 2013 | Western Standard - Jonathan Bradley:

Nov 23, 2022 - "Ontario is seeing explosive growth in independent schools, according to a report done by the Cardus Institute. 

"'Unlike Quebec and every Western province, Ontario offers zero taxpayer funding for independent schools, yet many parents value them enough to pay for tuition over and above the taxes they contribute towards district schools,' said Cardus Education Director and report co-author David Hunt in a Tuesday press release. 'Ontario’s Ministry of Education, political leaders, researchers, the media, and the public should seek to understand why our neighbours, friends, and family members are making these choices'....

"The report said there are at least 1,445 independent schools in Ontario — up by almost 52% since 2013-2014. Enrolment increased by 29,531 students from 2013-2014 to 2019-2020, the most growth of any Canadian province. The schools educated more than 154,000 students in Ontario as of 2019-2020. 

"The report went on to say two-fifths of independent schools have a specialization, such as special education or Montessori. It added 4% of the schools are elite institutions. Three-quarters of elite schools are in the Greater Toronto Area. Less than two-fifths of them are religiously based. 

"The report continued by saying one-quarter of independent schools are Jewish or Muslim. It said 64% of independent schools are in the suburbs, while 28% are in rural or semi-rural areas.... 

"Hunt said there is 'extraordinary diversity among Ontario’s independent schools.' 'Each school serves unique and specific student needs that district schools either don’t or can’t meet,' he said." 

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/number-of-independent-schools-in-ontario-grew-by-52-since-2013/article_585d95cc-6b5b-11ed-993f-475db8c6e44f.html

The Value of Independent Schools | Independent Schools Queensland, April 27, 2021:

OP-ED: Ford government should increase school choice in Ontario | True North - Michael Zwaagstra -

May 6, 2023 - "The Ontario government wants to promote diversity. That’s why it’s made 'equity' and 'inclusion' a key focus in K-12 schools. However, if Ontario wants to actually promote diversity in education, it should help increase school choice and expand the educational options available to parents.

"Unlike Quebec and the four Western provinces, Ontario does not fund independent schools, which means parents who wish to enroll their children in a non-government school must pay the full cost of tuition (along with their regular taxes that pay for the public school system). In essence, they pay twice for their children’s education.

"This might not be a problem for wealthier families who can easily afford high tuition fees, but it’s not so simple for middle- and lower-income families. As a result, only 6.9% of Ontario students attend independent schools compared to 13.2% in British Columbia and 11.7% in Quebec. The partial funding of independent schools by these provinces makes this option more affordable for many parents.

"Importantly, when provinces fund independent schools, they do so based on enrollment. Thus, it’s more accurate to say that money follows the student because independent schools only receive funds if parents choose to send their children there. Clearly, independent schools meet an important need for many families and should remain available as an option.

"Another positive reform would be to follow Alberta’s lead and allow the creation of charter schools. Contrary to what many people assume, charter schools are not independent schools but are rather autonomous, not-for-profit schools within the public system. And they’re non-sectarian, cannot charge tuition, and must be open to all students. Charter schools have proven to be quite successful in Alberta. Some charter schools, such as Foundations for the Future Charter Academy in Calgary, provide a traditional back-to-basics approach, while others, such as Boyle Street Education Centre in Edmonton, focus on alternative programs targeting at-risk youth. With the recent decision by the Alberta government to lift the cap on charter schools, the number of these schools—and the number of students enrolled in them—will continue to grow in that province."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2023/05/06/zwaagstra-ford-school-choice/

DeVos confirmed as U.S. Education Secretary

Statement on Confirmation of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education | Cato @ Liberty - Neal McCluskey:

February 7, 2017 - "It is gratifying to see Betsy DeVos confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of Education. This is not because the federal government should attempt to push school choice — it should not, except in the District of Columbia and for families connected to the military — but because the opposition to now-Secretary DeVos was so unfair to her, and to the research on educational freedom.

"The reality is that research indicates charter schooling works in Michigan, DeVos’s home state, and specifically in Detroit. It shows that families of students with disabilities, rather than somehow being victimized by school choice, are empowered and immensely satisfied with it. And logic and evidence show that private school choice, rather than imposing ideas on people, frees them to get what they want for their children without forcing it on others.

"It is also gratifying to see DeVos approved because she stated repeatedly in her confirmation hearing that education decisions should be left to state and local governments. Constitutionally, that has things absolutely right: the Constitution gives Washington no authority to govern or 'oversee' American education, as Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) put it, which means such rights remain with the states, or with the people. And 50-plus years of increasingly intrusive federal meddling in education, with ultimately no visible academic improvement to show for it, brilliantly illustrates the wisdom of that decision.

"Now let us hope that the Trump administration sticks to the constitutionally-constrained federal role — even on school choice — that Secretary DeVos has repeatedly endorsed. "

https://www.cato.org/blog/statement-confirmation-betsy-devos-us-secretary-education
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NY Times misrepresents school choice outcomes

The New York Times Continues to Mislead About School Choice in Michigan | Cato @ Liberty - Jason Bedrick:

January 10, 2017 - "In its quest to build a false narrative about Betsy DeVos, nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, the New York Times has continuously misled readers about the effects of charter schools in Detroit. The latest example comes from today’s editorial: '[DeVos] has also argued for shutting down Detroit public schools, with the system turned over to charters or taxpayer money given out as vouchers for private schools. In that city, charter schools often perform no better than traditional schools, and sometimes worse.'

"The NYT editors based their claim on a (faulty) Times op-ed from November in which Douglas Harris made the following claim: 'As one of the architects of Detroit’s charter school system, [DeVos] is partly responsible for what even charter advocates acknowledge is the biggest school reform disaster in the country. […] One well-regarded study found that Detroit’s charter schools performed at about the same dismal level as its traditional public schools'....

"Back in July, I highlighted the same report’s findings to dispel a similarly misleading description in the NYT: 'As shown [on] page 44 of the CREDO report, nearly half of Detroit’s charter schools outperformed the city’s traditional district schools in reading [46%] and math [48%] scores, while only one percent of charter schools performed worse in reading and only seven percent performed worse in math.'

"To claim, as the NYT does, that Detroit 'charter schools often perform no better than traditional schools, and sometimes worse' based on these figures is a highly distorted way of presenting the data. It’s equally true to say 'Detroit charter schools almost always perform as well [as] or better than traditional schools'....

"As [Ranesh] Ponnuru notes, the 2012 CREDO study concluded:

Based on the findings presented here, the typical student in Michigan charter schools gains more learning in a year than his [traditional public school (TPS)] counterparts, amounting to about two months of additional gains in reading and math. These positive patterns are even more pronounced in Detroit, where historically student academic performance has been poor. These outcomes are consistent with the result that charter schools have significantly better results than TPS for minority students who are in poverty.....

"Harris responded by shifting the goalposts by expressing skepticism of the very CREDO study he had previously described as 'well-regarded' when citing it in support of his view, claiming that the positive 'CREDO results may reflect cherry-picking” among other reasons why we shouldn’t take these results 'literally.' For the record, I am not entirely persuaded that the matching efforts in the CREDO study were well done, but one cannot cite a study in support of one’s view only to dismiss it when it is pointed out that the study’s conclusion contradicts that view."

Read more: https://www.cato.org/blog/new-york-times-continues-mislead-about-school-choice-michigan
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Interest growing in National School Choice Week

As interest in school choice grows, so does National School Choice Week - Watchdog.org - Josh Kaib:

"2016 is shaping up to be the best year yet for National School Choice Week. The annual January event, which began in 2011, will feature 16,140 events, up from roughly 11,000 last year. The festivities officially kick off across the country on Sunday and run through January 30.

"Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, says the exponential growth tracks with the increased interest in school choice.

 "'From 150 events in 2011 to 16,140 events in 2016, the growth in enthusiasm surrounding National School Choice Week demonstrates that Americans in communities across the country recognize, more than ever before, the importance of ensuring that all children have the opportunity to learn and to pursue their own American dreams,' Campanella said in a statement.

"The events — which are independently planned by schools and participating organizations — aim to increase the public’s awareness of education options, including traditional district schools, public charter and magnet schools, online education, private schools and homeschooling.

"'National School Choice Week provides an opportunity to start tens of thousands of conversations across our country about the benefits of choice and opportunity in K-12 education,' Campanella said. 'We encourage everyone to get involved, to celebrate, and to have their voices heard during the week.'

"Though NSCW has spread quickly across the country, some areas are slower to adopt school choice policies. Charter school laws differ widely from state to state, and 27 so far offer private school choice initiatives including scholarships, vouchers, and education savings accounts. Scholarships are typically funded through tax-deductible donations from businesses and individuals, whereas vouchers and ESAs enable parents to decide where the public education funding set aside for their child should go....

"Last year, Nevada became the first state to enact a universal ESA. It would enable virtually every public school student in the state to attend the private school of their choice by giving them a significant portion of the money that would have been spent educating them at a public school.

"But earlier this month, a state judge issued an injunction against the program. Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who signed the program into law, is asking the Nevada Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on the program’s constitutionality."

Read more: http://watchdog.org/254631/national-school-choice-week-growing/
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Super PAC spends $7 Million in Philadelphia primary

3 Libertarians Fuel $7 Million Super PAC In Philadelphia's Mayoral Democratic Primary - Paul Blumenthal, Huffington Post:

May 14, 2015 - "Voters will cast ballots in the Democratic primary for Philadelphia's mayoral race on May 19, but three libertarian donors from the suburbs could really influence the contest.

"According to city campaign finance records, Arthur Dantchik, Joel Greenberg and Jeff Yass – heads of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group – have pumped almost $7 million into the American Cities super PAC, which backs state Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D). The total contributed by the three financial executives through May 4, the cutoff for the latest reports, not only dwarfs the amount spent by each candidate in the race, but also is nearly equal to all candidate and other super PAC fundraising combined.

"The contributions come amid a continued uptick in large campaign donations from financial investors to city, state and municipal elections sent through super PACs in recent years. The funds are largely given in support of market-based education reforms including the privatization of public schools, the diversion of public school funds to charter schools and the breaking of teachers unions....

"In the state Senate, Williams was the architect of an expansion of the state tax credit diverting public funds to charter schools by allowing corporations and wealthy individuals to be refunded with public money when they pay for a scholarship, or 'voucher,' for a public school student to attend a charter school. He also served on the education commission created by former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, a proponent of charter schools and vouchers.

"Williams is not a new commodity for the investors based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Dantchik, Greenberg and Yass spent at least $6 million through their Students First PA PAC to support Williams' bid for the Democratic Party's gubernatorial nomination in 2010."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/philadelphia-mayor-super-pac_n_7268872.html
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Alvin Toffler: "Shut down public education system"

Reshaping Learning from the Ground Up | Edutopia - interview by James Daly, Edutopia::

January 24, 2007 - Forty years after he and his wife, Heidi, set the world alight with Future Shock, Alvin Toffler remains a tough assessor of our nation's social and technological prospects. Though he's best known for his work discussing the myriad ramifications of the digital revolution, he also loves to speak about the education system that is shaping the hearts and minds of America's future. We met with him near his office in Los Angeles, where the celebrated septuagenarian remains a clear and radical thinker.

You've been writing about our educational system for decades. What's the most pressing need in public education right now?

"Alvin Toffler: Shut down the public education system....

"Let's look back at the history of public education in the United States.... Late in the 1800s, during the Industrial Revolution, business leaders began complaining about all these rural kids who were pouring into the cities and going to work in our factories. Business leaders said that these kids were no good, and that what they needed was an educational system that would produce 'industrial discipline'....

"The public school system is designed to produce a workforce for an economy that will not be there. And therefore, with all the best intentions in the world, we're stealing the kids' future.

"Do I have all the answers for how to replace it? No. But it seems to me that before we can get serious about creating an appropriate education system for the world that's coming and that these kids will have to operate within, we have to ask some really fundamental questions....

"For example: Should education be compulsory? And, if so, for who? Why does everybody have to start at age five? Maybe some kids should start at age eight and work fast. Or vice versa. Why is everything massified in the system, rather than individualized in the system? New technologies make possible customization in a way that the old system -- everybody reading the same textbook at the same time -- did not offer.

"Any form of diversity that we can introduce into the schools is a plus. Today, we have a big controversy about all the charter schools that are springing up. The school system people hate them because they're taking money from them. I say we should radically multiply charter schools, because they begin to provide a degree of diversity in the system that has not been present. Diversify the system.

"In our book Revolutionary Wealth, we play a game. We say, imagine that you're a policeman, and you've got a radar gun, and you're measuring the speed of cars going by. Each car represents an American institution. The first one car is going by at 100 miles per hour. It's called business. Businesses have to change at 100 miles per hour because if they don't, they die. Competition just puts them out of the game. So they're traveling very, very fast.

"Then comes another car. And it's going 10 miles per hour. That's the public education system. Schools are supposed to be preparing kids for the business world of tomorrow, to take jobs, to make our economy functional. The schools are changing, if anything, at 10 miles per hour. So, how do you match an economy that requires 100 miles per hour with an institution like public education? A system that changes, if at all, at 10 miles per hour?"

Read more: http://www.edutopia.org/future-school
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