Public dollars should only be used to build public schools: Danielle Smith accelerating private school construction at the expense of public school students

For Immediate Release - Edmonton

Last night, via televised broadcast, Premier Danielle Smith announced a plan that was supposed to alleviate overcrowded schools. Instead, she proposed an egregious charter and private school construction acceleration program and made no mention of complementary operational funding to attract and hire more education workers. Her plan expands private education by siphoning much needed public dollars to line the pockets of private institutions that are not open to the general community. Alberta already funds private education with one of the highest instructional subsidy rates in the country at 70%, but now Smith is adding to this siphoning by using public funds to pay for the brick and mortar construction of exclusive buildings that most Albertan kids cannot access.

“Without any new operational funding to accompany capital funds, Danielle Smith’s announcement of a 7-year long construction plan leaves out the concrete need to help students struggling today in the here and now. We also need thousands more education workers. We need a full plan that brings in more education workers to support large and complex classrooms. These material resources were glaringly omitted.

Every 4 years, more than $1 billion of public money flows out of public education to private and charter schools. They should not be granted unlimited public funds for building construction too. Alberta invests the least money into public education and simultaneously the most money into private schools, in the country.” 
- Medeana Moussa, Executive Director, Support Our Students Alberta

Across the province, public school boards’ new school requests have routinely been rejected by the government year over year. Alberta’s education infrastructure crunch is a self-made one through decades of chronic underfunding and deferred maintenance. The easing of the school construction pipeline must prioritize public school builds instead of favouring private and charter schools. The need for more public schools is dire and it is absolutely outrageous that public resources will be funneled to private projects instead. In the next decade, Edmonton needs at least 50 new schools and Calgary needs at least 40. 

“Our public education system is in crisis. We cannot afford to keep gifting our valuable public funds to private entities who do not admit all children. Students need more learning resources now. Public school students need more teachers, more time with education staff, more help from aides. They all deserve vibrant library collections, enriching music and art programs, and mental health supports. Instead, they are being asked to pay for private and charter buildings that only serve exclusive groups.
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Danielle Smith’s government is failing students. Education is a provincial responsibility and Alberta’s highly privatized education system is not working for the majority of Alberta’s K-12 students who attend public schools. It’s past time to stop paying for private education (buildings and operations). We must redirect all public dollars back to public schools which serve the public good.”
- Medeana Moussa, Executive Director, Support Our Students Alberta

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