While many schools across Ontario are bursting at the seams, others have plenty of empty seats.
For example, in the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) in London, Ontario, nine schools are at less than 60 per cent capacity, with five of those located in rural areas. Unsurprisingly, Education Minister Paul Calandra recently suggested that some of these underutilized schools might have to be amalgamated or closed entirely.
Since TVDSB is one of the school boards that Calandra has taken control of due to allegations of financial mismanagement, the minister’s comments are not an empty threat. Calandra is serious and he has the power to close any of these schools. Naturally, this has some communities on edge.
Unfortunately, parents in Ontario have limited options outside of the public and Catholic school boards. But bringing more options to Ontario would be one of the most effective ways to revitalize schools and keep them open.
Imagine, for example, what could happen if the Ford government allowed the creation of charter schools, which are autonomous public schools that operate outside the authority of a school board. In Alberta, the only province which currently allows charter schools, approximately 10,000 students attend charter schools, and that number is growing steadily. In fact, some Alberta charter schools have long wait lists.
Some Alberta communities have turned to the charter school model to keep their only community school open. For example, in 2008, Valhalla Centre in northwest Alberta refused to accept the local school board’s decision to close its school. So, parents applied to the province to turn Valhalla Community School into an independently operated charter school. Now, 17 years later, Valhalla Community School is still going strong.
There are also options entirely outside the public system. For example, parents in Ontario could enroll their children in an independent school—if they can afford the tuition. Unfortunately, Ontario is the only province outside Atlantic Canada that does not provide any government funding to independent schools, so parents who choose this option must pay the cost of schooling twice; once when paying taxes and a second time when paying tuition. But if the Ontario government provided funding for independent schools (like governments in the Western provinces and Quebec), it would effectively reduce the cost of tuition for parents and make it easier for independent schools to remain open.
Crucially, independent schools are not beholden to a school board bureaucracy. Instead of having their future decided by bureaucrats in a central board office, each school has its own board of directors composed of parents and community leaders. These boards are far more responsive to the wishes of parents and other local citizens than trustees who oversee sprawling school boards.
And one of the biggest problems with large school boards is their tendency to increase the number of employees working in the board office. For example, along with having a director of education, a human rights and equity advisor, and an associate director, no fewer than 11 TVDSB employees hold the title of “Superintendent of Student Achievement.” Each of these superintendents also has an executive assistant.
Imagine how many additional classroom teachers could be hired if these central office positions were eliminated. Remember this next time school boards complain that they’re underfunded.
If the Ford government is serious about reigning in out-of-control school board spending, it should expand school choice for parents and students. While the government has taken control of some of the most poorly-run school boards, micromanaging school boards is not a viable long-term solution. The key to improving the way schools are run is to ensure that funding essentially follows students to the schools of their parents’ choice. That is how to take control away from bureaucrats, put power back in the hands of parents, and keep local schools open.
Michael Zwaagstra is a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute.
