Having just read the Ministry of Education's latest "guidelines"
regarding fees charged to students in Ontario public schools, my
reaction is, I suspect, similar to that of most other
parents: confusion over what they
are actually saying and scepticism that much is going to change as
a result.
For every year I can remember, all three of my kids were asked,
at various intervals from September through to the end of June, to
send in and/or raise money for this or that activity, year book,
student athletics, special project, school trip, and so on and so
on. I never kept a tally, but I am sure it all added up to a
fair chunk of change. I remember one year being asked to send
in five dollars at the beginning of the year for Kleenex and other
unspecified personal hygiene items for the class - a good idea in
theory, but an additional cost at a time when back to school
expenses are already a strain for most families.
The Ministry is supposedly attempting to clarify to both school
boards and parents what exactly is permissible and what is not in
terms of student fees. Instead, the document is full of
contradictory statements such as:
Every student has the right to attend a school, where they
are a qualified resident pupil, without payment of a
fee, (note to the Ministry: please check your work for
grammar!)
followed by this statement:
Fees raised for school purposes are to complement, and not
replace, public funding for education.
So, students have the right to attend school without payment of
a fee, but fees can nonetheless be levied on them -- for enhanced
materials, or "extras" that aren't the absolute minimum to meet
curriculum requirements, if the student so
chooses. Hmmm.....sounds a
little two-tiered to me. The Ministry then goes on
to say that students should not be limited by their ability to pay
(which they obviously are), and that boards should be:
Making every effort to ensure all students can participate
in student activities regardless of ability to
pay;
BUT
where a student chooses not to participate, alternative
assignments should be provided for students to meet the
expectations of the course.
This sounds very much like educational doublespeak to me.
Students who choose not to participate
in, let's say, a class trip to the Science Centre in Toronto
because they can't afford it and are too embarrassed to say so will
be given some "alternative" assignment, such as an extra essay or
project to meet the course expectations. What is
missing here is an acknowledgement that disadvantaged children
don't choose. Rather, their choices are
frequently dictated by their circumstances. What's fair
about that?
The advocacy group People for Education reports that some
schools have raised as much as $90,000 for special projects, while
others in less privileged areas raise as little as $1,000 for
similar projects. With this kind of disparity among schools,
somebody is getting short-changed. The entire rationale
for public education is to level the playing field for all kids, so
that each will have an opportunity to reach his or her
potential.
My message to the Ministry of Education as a parent and
taxpayer: say what you mean and mean what you say, get rid of
fees, demand detailed financial accountability of
school boards, and make sure kids from the neediest families aren't
losing out on opportunities other kids have. Otherwise, a
public education isn't really public.
