We are Alberta's public education advocates, fighting for the right of all children to an equitable and accessible public education system.
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Latest Advocacy News
March 3, 2023
New OpEd just published:
"Charter schools erode public education" by Wing Li (Communications Director)
In the Feb. 15 Edmonton Journal, David Staples lauded the benefits of charter schools in a column praising the breadth of school choice available in the capital region. While Edmonton Public Schools are being forced to compete with charter and private-schooling options for limited public funds, we need to ask whether this competition for resources is equitable for children. At a time when Alberta public schools are losing EAs, teachers, librarians, and school counsellors, is it really fiscally responsible to funnel more money into exclusive options outside of the public system such as charter schools?
Read more>>>
New OpEd just published:
"Charter schools erode public education" by Wing Li (Communications Director)
In the Feb. 15 Edmonton Journal, David Staples lauded the benefits of charter schools in a column praising the breadth of school choice available in the capital region. While Edmonton Public Schools are being forced to compete with charter and private-schooling options for limited public funds, we need to ask whether this competition for resources is equitable for children. At a time when Alberta public schools are losing EAs, teachers, librarians, and school counsellors, is it really fiscally responsible to funnel more money into exclusive options outside of the public system such as charter schools?
Read more>>>
March 1, 2023
MEDIA RELEASE: UCP 2023 Pre-election Budget Prioritizes Private and Charter Schools
After several years of flat education spending (which amounted to real cuts, leaving thousands of Alberta students in public schools unfunded), the mere injection of 5.2% of operational funding will hardly meet the bare minimum for funding enrolment growth. Despite the government's huge surplus, this budget leaves students in public schools ignored and gravely neglected.
The real winners of this budget are private and charter schools. There is new funding for private school transportation and new charter school construction. Read more >>>
MEDIA RELEASE: UCP 2023 Pre-election Budget Prioritizes Private and Charter Schools
After several years of flat education spending (which amounted to real cuts, leaving thousands of Alberta students in public schools unfunded), the mere injection of 5.2% of operational funding will hardly meet the bare minimum for funding enrolment growth. Despite the government's huge surplus, this budget leaves students in public schools ignored and gravely neglected.
The real winners of this budget are private and charter schools. There is new funding for private school transportation and new charter school construction. Read more >>>
November 8, 2023
Undermining Public Education: Privatization and "school choice" in Alberta
by Heather Ganshorn (Research Director)
by Heather Ganshorn (Research Director)
"When Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party (UCP) was elected to a majority government in Alberta in 2019, everyone with a stake in public education had reason to be concerned about the party’s plans for K-12 education."
Read more >>>
Read more >>>
October 13, 2022
Danielle Smith's School Vouchers will Decimate Public Education
by Heather Ganshorn (Research Director)
Alberta's governing United Conservative Party chose Danielle Smith as their new leader on Oct. 6. Smith has a long record of antagonism towards public education among her other terrifying extremist positions. She wants to implement an American-style "school voucher system" which has already failed in the US. This would see private schools receive full subsidies while draining neighbourhood public schools of much-needed resources and support. We cannot let this proposal become a reality or we will lose our public education system as we know it.
“If this becomes public policy, it will mean the destruction of the public education system that has taken generations for Albertans to build,” Support Our Students Director Heather Ganshorn told PressProgress.
“It is a seismic shift away from building an equitable and accessible education system that aims to meet the needs of each and every child toward a dog-eat-dog, fend-for-yourself system."
Read more >>
“If this becomes public policy, it will mean the destruction of the public education system that has taken generations for Albertans to build,” Support Our Students Director Heather Ganshorn told PressProgress.
“It is a seismic shift away from building an equitable and accessible education system that aims to meet the needs of each and every child toward a dog-eat-dog, fend-for-yourself system."
Read more >>
September 1, 2022
By Medeana Moussa & Heather Ganshorn (Executive & Research Directors)
By Medeana Moussa & Heather Ganshorn (Executive & Research Directors)
Back-to-School: Beware 'Privatization Creep'
Students are heading back to school this week after 3 years of COVID instability compounded with decades of defunding and erosion of public education. Our OpEd for the Saskatchewan StarPhoenix was published today and we raise alarms about the threat of privatization creep. We call for removing public funds from private education especially after the surfacing of horrific abuse of students at private schools in Saskatchewan this summer.
Read OpEd >>>
Read OpEd >>>
July 18, 2022
Hot off the press:
"Populism, polarization and privatization in Alberta education"
An important article by SOS Research Director, Heather Ganshorn, was recently featured in the latest issue of Our Schools/Our Selves, an education journal published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
In this piece, Heather succinctly and clearly lays out the connections between right-wing populist politics, polarization, and privatization on Alberta education.
It outlines the sociopolitical forces at play that are accelerating their pressures to deconstruct public education, particularly in Alberta and how our situation mirrors what is happening elsewhere, namely such as in the USA.
In this piece, Heather succinctly and clearly lays out the connections between right-wing populist politics, polarization, and privatization on Alberta education.
It outlines the sociopolitical forces at play that are accelerating their pressures to deconstruct public education, particularly in Alberta and how our situation mirrors what is happening elsewhere, namely such as in the USA.
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July 8, 2022
Spotlight on: Even Larger Class Sizes
Support Our Students spoke to the press this week advocating for the province to restore class size data reporting and also to re-instate class size grant funding.
Spotlight on: Even Larger Class Sizes
Support Our Students spoke to the press this week advocating for the province to restore class size data reporting and also to re-instate class size grant funding.
10 Strategies for Equitable Public Education
We would like the Alberta Government to redefine and recommit the government’s responsibility to a more equitable public education system for all Alberta students.
- Make high quality early childhood education universal and accessible, leveling the playing field and closing the achievement gap for underprivileged children.
- Build schools as community engagement centres, comprehensive facilities where children and citizens can participate physically, intellectually and civically.
- Eliminate ALL barriers including all school-related fees (including, but not limited to, instructional materials, bussing, lunch supervision) and application procedures.
- All schools should have a full, inclusive, and balanced curriculum including but not limited to arts, music, science, history, language arts, additional languages, mathematics, and physical education.
- Reduce class sizes to bring them in line with the recommendations in the Alberta Learning Commission report of 2003 & provide adequate supports for classroom complexity.
- Integrate charter schools into public system, eliminating all fees and ability to deny access.
- Provide integrated services for students including medical and social services that help children keep up with advantaged peers. One in six Alberta children live in poverty.
- Reduce emphasis on high stakes standardized testing. Provide alternative and more comprehensive criteria for measuring student success.
- Return to specialization for teachers at all grade levels.
- Recognize that public education is a public responsibility not a consumer good. Its quality and accessibility should be equitable across the province.