HomeMy WebLinkAboutFix the grey area around Catholic school funding EDITORIAL - Globe & Mail - 02/13/2018 - Globe & Mail - 02/13/20182/15/2018 Globe editorial: Fix the grey area around Catholic school funding - The Globe and Mail
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Globe editorial: Fix the grey area around Catholic
school funding
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Given the ink spilled over two-tier health care, it feels odd more Canadians aren't
overtly distressed by the growing inequity in publicly funded school systems.
According to a Globe and Mail analysis, English-language Catholic elementary
schools in Ontario have seen a steady rise in enrolment by non-Catholic pupils. The
data were compiled by the Catholic school boards because the province, incredibly,
does not keep track.
The story repeats itself across the country. Catholic school systems have become a
destination for parents of other religions who are keen to send their children to
institutions where the curriculum is at least partly rooted in faith -based moral
dogma, even if it's not their own. In doing so, they are bailing on public systems.
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They should have that choice. The broader question is: Should everyone else have to
pay for it? The answer is no.
The exodus in Ontario illustrates why. Money flowing into Catholic boards amplifies
the perception they offer a superior quality of education (in some cases, the
evidence supports that belief). But it also reduces the resources available to the
public system, which hinders quality, which causes some wealthier parents to
abandon the system for private schools, which lowers funding, and so on.
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2/15/2018 Globe editorial: Fix the grey area around Catholic school funding - The Globe and Mail
It is one thing to still fund Catholic systems in a secular country, but another thing to
allow them to siphon off students from the public system — in some cases just to
maintain enrolment levels and get the funding that comes with each pupil.
Quebec and Newfoundland have already answered the question of whether
provinces should be financing Catholic schools: They said no. The new reality in
those provinces required constitutional amendments, and in both cases they passed
without drama. It is eminently possible for places like Ontario, Alberta and
Saskatchewan, where funding overlaps are the subject of an ongoing court case, to
do likewise.
Even if they don't, they must make sure that secular public systems are properly
funded. Catholic systems are here to stay in provinces that want them, but it is
wrong for them to take money and students away from public schools. This is
especially true in rural areas, where students who lose their schools because of low
enrolment end up having to travel many kilometres to find a replacement.
Ontario and other provinces should put an end to this grey area and make sure that
Catholic schools only get funding for the students they were intended to teach.
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NEXT STORY
Feb. 15: Dueling school systems. Plus other letters to the editor
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2/15/2018 Globe editorial: Fix the grey area around Catholic school funding - The Globe and Mail
Catholic -school enrolment numbers should be monitored by Ontario
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2/15/2018 Globe editorial: Fix the grey area around Catholic school funding - The Globe and Mail
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