on education

[CANADIEN]

When I was still in high school the Tory government at the time - in it's dying days - proposed a very modest tax credit for parents who send their children to private or religious schools. I remember at the time I was rabidly opposed to such a tax credit. I wrote a letter to the editor and even protested at public hearings the Tories were having on the suggestion. I was terrified this would destroy the public school system or some such nonsense. It's funny what difference a few years can make in terms of perspective. Today I think a tax credit for parents who send their children to private schools is a great idea - the higher the better. Actually I am in favour of any tax credit, for any person, for any reason. Anything we can do to help anyone at all escape the onerous tax burden, imposed by liberals and conservatives alike with reckless (often politically motivated) spending, should be done.

Oh the wonderful logic. Taxes are bad, bad, bad, evil, evil, evil, but people should get tax credits. In other woords, a reduction from taxes, meaning they have to pay taxes in the first place.

Edited September 18, 2011 by CANADIEN

[Zachary Young]

If one is against beatings, it is not hypocritical to support a reduction in beatings. That surely doesn't imply that one supports beatings, just because someone supports a reduction in beatings.

[g_bambino]

[P]rivate schools... also must follow state mandates as to the content of the curriculum...

Private schools must include as much of the Crown's mandated content as is required for a student to obtain a diploma. Beyond that, a private school may do what it wishes. Where I went, it's a long standing tradition - since the school ceased to be a Crown-run institution in 1900 (though it was never part of the public school system) - for the administration to fight any attempts by the ministry to encroach into the school's governance beyond what was legally required. During my time there, students were taught mandated subject matter, but it was always a year in advance and augmented with whatever additional content the administration and even an individual teacher felt beneficial. After I graduated, the school adopted the International Baccalaureate programme, so that graduates now get both their OSSD and an IB diploma.

There's nothing wrong with setting a baseline standard that all schools must meet; one group of kids of a certain age at one school should not know and not know completely different things compared to kids of about the same age at another school. But, unlike private schools, every individual public school, in Ontario, anyway, seems overburdened with layer upon layer of bureaucracy, from the Cabinet, to the ministry, to one of the four Anglophone/Francophone/separate/non-separate school systems, to the district board, to the Ontario Teachers' Federation, and, let's not forget, CUPE. That's bound to drown the goal of quality education in a sea of politics and power struggles.

[g_bambino]

Private schools get the left overs and lazy teachers... The ones who couldn't get a job in the public system.

I don't think you've spent a day in private school in your life.

[MiddleClassCentrist]

I don't think you've spent a day in private school in your life.

I worked at one as a technology administrator. Going into classrooms. I've seen the difference in action.

Edited September 19, 2011 by MiddleClassCentrist

[g_bambino]

I worked at one as a technology administrator.

Must've been a pretty crap one, then (because of the impression it left on you, not because you worked there).

[guyser]

Private schools get the left overs and lazy teachers... The ones who couldn't get a job in the public system.

There are some stupid teachers. There are some stupid lawyers. There are some stupid engineers. There are some stupid of anything... Most teachers are intelligent and professional in their workplace.

And there are stupid statements...

Private schools get the left overs and lazy teachers... The ones who couldn't get a job in the public system.