Parents in every province – not just Alberta – deserve the widest possible choice of schools

This week in Alberta, the Smith government is expected to pass Bill 27, which will require schools to obtain signed permission from parents or guardians before teaching about human sexuality, gender identity or sexual orientation.

It’s a sensible step. The government is proactive in ensuring that students attend these courses because their parents want them there. Given the sensitivity of these issues, it makes sense in everyone’s interest to ensure parental consent from the outset.

Unfortunately, many school administrators disagree. A recent resolution passed by the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) calls on the Smith government to maintain the status quo where parents are deemed to have opted in to this instruction unless they contact the school and deregister their children. Apparently the ASBA believes that parents cannot be trusted to make the right decisions for their children on this matter.

This ASBA resolution is, in fact, a good example of the knee-jerk resistance of public school administrators to parental rights. They don’t want parents to take control of their children’s education, especially in sensitive areas. Fortunately, the Government of Alberta has rejected ASBA’s demands and this attempt to repeal Bill 27 will likely fall on deaf ears.

However, there is an even better protection for parents in Alberta: school choice. Of all Canadian provinces, Alberta offers the largest range of schools. In addition to having a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, Alberta provides between 60 and 70 percent of operating funds to accredited independent schools. Additionally, Alberta is the only province in Canada that allows fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents. Simply put, parents dissatisfied with the public school system have many options – more than parents in any other province. This means parents in Alberta can vote with their feet.

In other parts of the country the situation is completely different. For example, Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces do not allow provincial funding to send students to independent schools. In other words, parents in these provinces who choose an independent school must cover the full cost themselves — while continuing to pay taxes that fund public schools. And no province other than Alberta allows charter schools.

It is therefore important to offer parents the greatest possible choice of school options. Given the tendency of public school boards to deprive parents of choice, it is important that all parents, even those with limited resources, have other options available to their children.

Imagine if the owners of a large grocery store tried to enforce their dietary preferences by removing all meat products and telling customers that they could only purchase meat if they placed a special order. What would happen in this scenario? It depends on what other options are available. If this were the only grocery store in the community, customers would have no choice but to comply. However, if there were other stores, customers could simply shop elsewhere. Choice empowers people and limits a company’s ability to limit the choices of the people who live in the community.

Think of public school boards as monopolistic service providers like a grocery store. They often do everything they can to prevent parents from going elsewhere for their children’s education. Trusting them to do what is best for parents and children is like assuming that the owners of a grocery store will always put the interests of their customers first and not their own interests. Monopolies are bad in the private sector and also in the education sector.

Of course, it makes sense to require schools to proactively seek parental consent. This ensures maximum consent from parents to their children’s courses. It is also important that Alberta remains a bastion of school choice. By making it easier for parents to choose from a variety of educational options, Alberta is putting the power right in the hands of parents, where it belongs. Parents in other provinces should also want to have the same power.