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What do I say when challenged to defend government funding for Independent Schools?
Teachers in independent, faith based schools in BC are perplexed and sometimes cringe when some in the media, the BC Teachers Federation and the BC School Trustees Association take issue with public tax dollars going to independent and “faith-based” schools. Why are some individuals and organizations so adamant in insisting that government tax dollars are not to be used to (partially) fund independent schools? What can teachers do to educate themselves and their school community, including the local media, politicians and public school leadership in understanding the independent school position on this question?
The History of Funding in BC Schools:
On October 11, 1977 the Independent School Support Act gave legal recognition and financial support to BC’s independent schools for the first time. The Act continues until today, although updated in 1989. Prior to 1977 all independent schools, which included Christian Schools, were completely self-supporting and un-regulated. As of 1977, independent schools were given the option to apply for funding and the maximum funding a school could receive became thirty percent of the local public school district annual operating grant. In 1989, maximum funding was increased to fifty percent. In exchange for funding, independent schools became regulated and had to meet government standards for education.
The website www.bced.gov.bc.ca/independentschools/ provides information about the “history, rights and accountability as well as parental choice in independent schools” and “the procedural guidelines and regulation of independent schools.”
Justice Achieved: The Political Struggle of Independent Schools in British Columbia, written by Victoria Cunningham (2002), provides a detailed and interesting historical record of how independent schools gained legal recognition and financial support.
The Role of Government in Society:
In Canada, provincial governments are designated (British North America Act 1867 Article: 93) to provide education for its citizens. In BC today, this means that all children and young people are entitled to a quality, cost-free education from kindergarten through grade 12. To meet this entitlement, the provincial government mandates school boards to build school buildings, provide governance, administrative and educational leadership, and create and implement curriculum outcomes. Creating a school system that has to meet the needs of children and young people is an awesome responsibility and requires the support of society. All citizens and businesses are taxed to ensure a healthy public school system. BC’s public school system plays a vital and necessary role in the Province and nation of Canada. Independent school supporters have no difficulty paying their share of tax dollars for a quality public school system.
Taxation applies equally to all citizens of Canada and the province of BC. Whether one pays income tax or a consumption tax, there is no respecter of persons. Independent school supporters are tax payers and thus have a political claim to where tax funds can be spent. They are thankful to the government of BC for the provision of tax dollars being directed to independent schools.
The government also exists to ensure accountability for the delivery of a quality education. Independent schools also expect oversight of the educational enterprise. Thus the Ministry of Education has created the Independent School Act and the Office of the Inspector of Independent Schools to ensure compliance. Independent school supporters expect the government to hold them accountable for the delivery of a quality education just as it holds public education accountable. (See details at end of essay.)
The Role of the Family in Society:
Independent school members believe parents are primarily responsible for the education of their children. Thus parents need to have the opportunity to select the method of education that they feel is best suited for their son or daughter. For most parents, their local public school fills that requirement. Others may desire a French immersion school, a traditional school or the special arts program at a public school. However, some parents look for educational programs that the public school system is unable or unwilling to deliver. In BC over ten percent of families seek out schools that are independent of the public system. In exercising this choice, parents need to pay tuition and the government partially compensates them if they meet all the learning outcomes that the government prescribes. In BC, the funding is limited to fifty percent of the public school operating grant. No funds are paid out for land or facilities. Independent school supporters expect the government and society to acknowledge the contribution independent schools provide in meeting the educational outcomes the government has set. The provision of a grant to independent schools of fifty percent of the per pupil operating grant for public schools seems a fair trade-off in the exchange of meeting the learning outcomes prescribed and the desire for independence.
Personal and Institutional Rights require vigilance:
Canada and its provinces have worked hard over the years to achieve a society where individuals and groups are accorded considerable latitude in freedoms. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/1.html”) and changes in laws have evolved to the point where a reasonable balance has been found between individual, group and institutional choice, responsibilities and rights.
However, there remains a conflict of opinion over whether public taxpayer funds should be used to fund “private initiatives”. Independent school supporters understand the competing political voices concerning public-private initiative but maintain the grants independent schools receive are for the service of delivering the publicly required curriculum which is a public good. They realize that the provincial government can withdraw or reduce funding for independent schools. For example, the BC Teachers Federation and the BC School Trustees Association are opposed to the funding of independent schools and continue to press the government to overturn the Independent School Act. The Federation of Independent School Associations in BC (www.fisabc.ca) has over 90 percent support of the enrolment of BC independent schools (64,000 students) and this organization has come to represent their interests with the government.
“Faith-Based” Schools and Public Funding:
A large percentage of independent schools derive their rationale for existence on their “religious” or “faith-based” connection. There are three groups of schools in this category. The most obvious are those affiliated with an institutional Christian church. The largest of these are schools associated with the Roman Catholic Church. The institutional church connection includes other denominations, such as Pentecostal, Lutheran, Reformed, Mennonite etc., A second group is the Christian “faith-based” schools organized independent of church affiliation, but committed to a particular Christian educational philosophy and world-view. A third group, not Christian, includes the Hebrew, Muslim and Sikh schools.
What sets the “faith-based” school apart from other schools is a commitment to teach children a curriculum that supplements and/or integrates the teachings of the church, Christianity, Islam etc., This also implies specialized teacher education and community standards consistent with the values of the school community.
There was a time in Canada when the institutional church played a leading role in establishing schools. The British North America Act (1967) in Article 93 recognizes the role of the Roman Catholic Church in providing education, as well as the Protestant (usually Anglican) churches.
The “separation of church and state” has been a healthy development for the most part in Canada. Most people today would agree that the church and the state have different responsibilities and that the days of one official church for a nation or a province was properly abandoned before Confederation. However, the “church-state” relationship plays itself out in new and interesting ways as society becomes more secular, multicultural and pluralistic.
The “let the state be the provider of education, not the church,” group believes the state is in the best position to deliver education to its citizens. Its’ proponents believe the state provides an inclusive, shared, humanistic, secular value system that most citizens can embrace. No one today would want a particular church authority to define the educational goals of a nation or a province. Those days are over. However …..
There are parents who desire an education for their children that compliment the teachings of their church and/or faith. Since 1977 in British Columbia they have been free to do so with the added benefit of some funding.
The rights and freedoms of “religion, expression” and “association” may be cherished by our society; but for the general population these are best seen as “private rights” that have no claim to tax dollars. For most people in society, the church, the mosque, and the synagogue etc., are institutions that serve only private interests and have no public value. Independent faith-based school supporters bring an alternative educational voice to the public square that enriches the cultural fabric of society. Faith-based schools bring thousands of years of ancient texts, philosophies, theology, ethics, artistic expression, community and spiritual reflections etc., to feed and enrich the educational experience of BC youth.
When Public Values Conflict with a Community’s Ethical Values:
Canada, in 2010, and BC in particular, exhibits an incredible tolerance and appreciation for different cultures and lifestyles. This tolerance towards others has woven itself more or less into public and private life.
Independent school supporters are careful to demonstrate respect and tolerance to others and would expect the same in return. Faith-based schools, such as Christian schools, see students as “created in the image of God” and that the human relational norm that supersedes all other is to “love our neighbor.” However, when a faith community (for an example) teaches its students that the intended norm for a sexual relationship is reserved for a married man and a women, alarm bells sound and public voices will raise the “intolerance” charge! The debate becomes really heated if a teacher loses his or her job by ignoring a “community standard” or a “catholicity clause.” Defender of the public school system will present the “intolerance” argument as a reason for cutting out funding.
It is unfortunate that the “tolerance and free choice ethic” seems to trump many other ethical understandings that have shaped not just the Western World but many other cultures. Independent school supporters tolerate and respect the different lifestyles and choices made by law abiding individuals and groups in our society. They want the same respect as any other group.
A founding principle of Canada is the freedom to practice religion; but independent school supporters need to recognize that all rights have limits! The Charter of Rights states that all rights are subject to “reasonable limits.” As society becomes increasingly secular, values change. Nowhere is this more evident for “faith-based” schools than in the area of sexual relationships. The Judeo-Christian ethical value system that was assumed at the time of Confederation still carries some weight in law; but times are changing! A “reasonable limit” is not a static, objective, legality; it tends to be organic and evolving. For example, attitudes and laws with respect to “women’s equality” and “divorce” have changed dramatically in the last forty years.
The latest “hot-button” issue that arouses the attention of “faith-based” schools and the media is the challenge of “discrimination based on sexual orientation.” The right to freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation has, continues, and will continue to play out in the court of public opinion as well as courts of law. Most faith-based schools should be able to manage the issue if a student raises a discrimination charge, especially if the school has a sexual lifestyle policy that applies equally to all students including those attracted to the same sex. (CTABC-SCSBC has a policy) What remains to be seen is if (or when) a case surfaces where a school is required to dismiss a teacher based on behaviours related to sexual orientation. (Example: Teacher announces a sexual relationship with a gay partner in violation of the school’s community standard.)
The right to freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation has been adopted for employees and clients of all levels of Government and is endorsed by the British Columbia Human Rights Code. By virtue of the fact that BC Independent Schools get funding, the Supreme Courts may someday require “a reasonable limit” that extends rights to sexual orientation for independent school employees. If that happens, the Government of BC will need to add an addendum to the Independent Schools Support Act. Independent school supporters affirm, hope and trust that the “partial grant” funding is enough of a “reasonable limit” to society in balancing the “rights” and “equality” provisions of the Charter.
Conclusion:
The funding independent schools of BC have the privilege to receive is not a constitutional right or guarantee. Funding exists as an act of the BC Legislature. Legislation can be changed. Thus it is essential that independent school supporters remain vigilant, informed and politically astute. Vigilant in knowing there are political players who want the Independent School Act terminated; informed in knowing the historical, political, policy, legal and educational arguments; politically astute in knowing how to connect the stakeholders with the Members of the Legislative Assembly. PVH June 2010
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Relevant Sections from the BC Government website for Independent schools.
“In 1989, the Independent School Act (ISA), and later amendments, provided the following funding for “Group 1 schools:” Receive fifty percent of their local school district’s per student operating grant on a per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) student basis. To qualify: They employ BC certified teachers, have educational programs consistent with ministerial orders, provide a program that meets the learning outcomes of the British Columbia curriculum, meet various administrative requirements, maintain adequate educational facilities, and comply with municipal and regional district codes. There are currently 54,092 students enrolled in 255 Group 1 schools.”
“Independent schools have freedom to address the curriculum from their own
religious, cultural, philosophical or pedagogical perspectives, but they are bound by section 1 of the Schedule of the ISA, subsection 1(a) which reads:
"Before issuing or renewing a certificate of group 1, group 2, group 3 or group 4
classification to an authority the inspector must be satisfied that (a) no program is in existence or proposed at the independent school that would, in theory or in practice, promote or foster doctrines of (i) racial or ethnic superiority or persecution (ii) religious intolerance or persecution (iii) social change through violent action, or(iv) sedition.””
Note: There are over 73,000 students being educated outside of the public school system.
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