Public funds should fund public schools
- syoung679
- Sep 16
- 4 min read
By the Economic Justice Action Group, Committee for Action on Social Justice
As part of the public education system in beautiful British Columbia, we are proud of the work our colleagues do across the province. Most of us don’t choose the profession for the money, nor the ease, as any Kindergarten teacher can tell you, but for the love of learning and children. Education is not something we take lightly, and it takes a special type of person to do it. Many of us feel like this is our calling and that providing an education is one of the best gifts we could ever give another person.
We fill gaps in the system by spending our hard-earned paycheques on supplies, books, food, or other items as needed for our classrooms. Many of us make a habit of having a “snack bin” in our classrooms because we know that kids often come to school with no food in their system and, therefore, cannot learn. Instead, as a result of their hunger students may act out, fall asleep, or skip class to find food. To mediate these situations we provide food as well as basic school supplies.
The problem with our current funding model is that we don’t have enough money to create the public education system students deserve—but we could. We could have a system with enough funding for building repairs and upgrades, a system with enough specialist and inclusion teachers, a system where bussing doesn’t have to be partially subsidized by struggling families, and a system where no student goes hungry. So why do we continue to divert funding to private schools instead of addressing the gaps and inconsistencies in our current public system?
We feel strongly that everyone deserves the right to a basic, quality education. What the current system in BC has done is set up two tiers: the first is the public system that is available to everyone regardless of income, family status, religion, or background. The second tier, however, is allowed to pick and choose who to let in to their schools, in some cases, requiring they have the ability to pay thousands of dollars in private school fees. These students, through no virtue or fault of their own, are being provided a separate education that isn’t available to everyone. This “exclusive” education, despite its limited access, is subsidized by taxpayer dollars.
By continuing to fund private schools, we are actually deepening the inequalities that have been growing in the last decade.
Currently in BC, private schools receive either 50% or 35% of the per-student annual government funding allocated to public schools. Schools that receive 50% do not exceed the per-student spending of nearby public schools, while those that receive 35% do spend more than public schools. This funding is in addition to the property-tax exemptions and tax credits that private schools receive, including those that charge more than $40,000 per year in tuition and receive more than a million dollars in donations from families attending the schools.
You will always have the detractors on any topic, and this is no different. Organizations like the Fraser Institute are heavily in favour of private schools, in part because the content being taught can be controlled by special interests. With an anti-SOGI push still moving across the province, special-interest groups are advocating for more parental control over education than ever. What educators and people working toward a more inclusive, kind, community-centred society should be concerned about is the influence of non-educators on education systems, the impact people with harmful views can have on the next generation, and what is not being included at these schools. It should be concerning enough that we are running a fundamental part of society as a business, when it is well-established and internationally agreed that an education is a basic right of every child.
We believe that no child is more worthy or deserving than the next. This is true no matter their family history, medical diagnoses, immigration status, race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We want to believe that most people have this perspective too; it’s a well-known fact that education is the greatest equalizer and the most powerful tool we have to help people rise out of poverty. By continuing to fund private schools, we are actually deepening the inequalities that have been growing in the last decade. The wealth gap between those in low-income brackets and those in upper-middle and high-income brackets has widened each year since the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics Canada showed that the gap between Canada’s highest and lowest income households reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025.1
With districts across the province facing extreme levels of budget shortfalls and position cuts, it doesn’t feel right to divert hundreds of millions of dollars to families who exited the pandemic better off than ever at the expense of families who are struggling more than ever. Districts such as Maple Ridge, Surrey, and Nicola-Similkameen are cutting band programs, Vancouver is leasing school district land to developers, and North Vancouver, having sold off school sites in the early 2010s, is feeling the pressure now that enrollment is increasing and land prices are astronomically high.
In these expensive times, the best investment we can make is in our future and the children who will build that future. This requires thoughtful and purposeful spending in areas that are available to every child, especially as the wealth gap continues to grow with no sign of slowing down. In a capitalist and individualist world, the most revolutionary thing we could do is focus on building community that welcomes and celebrates the achievements and contributions of everyone who wishes to participate.
Our plea to the NDP and any future government is this: if you are truly on the side of working-class people and want to build a sustainable, strong future in this province, stop giving money to a system that furthers inequality. If we are against private health care because it prioritizes the rich over those who need care most, then being against private education should be the next logical step. Place your faith in the public education system that has worked for decades to further society with some of the most caring, self-sacrificing individuals you will ever meet. Fail to do so at your own peril; the more we support a two-tiered system of citizenship, the closer we come to destruction.
