Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Alberta already has the most choice in K-12 education in Canada, with private school pupils being funded to the tune of 70 percent per pupil compared to public school pupils, more than any other province. Charter schools, started in 1994 by Ralph Klein, receive the same level of per pupil funding as public schools, but are run by private parent or corporate boards. No other province in Canada even has charter schools. Since gaining power in the spring of 2019, Alberta’s UCP Government has lifted the cap on establishing charter schools and is advocating for a voucher system that would increase the per student public funding to Alberta’s private schools from 70 percent to 100 percent. The shift would arguably encourage many more private and religious education schools, more segregation—and more inequality. To top off the “Politics of Education”, Alberta’s Government has paused the previous NDP Government’s work on curriculum changes and is employing panels of “experts”, including an all-male group of advisors