John Jagersma says YES
Executive director of the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta
Private schools, also referred to as independent schools, play a vital role in Alberta’s education landscape. They offer a wide array of approaches to learning that complement the public system, enhancing educational outcomes while enriching the social and economic fabric of the province. Far from being an exclusive enclave for the wealthy, independent schools serve diverse populations, foster academic excellence and contribute meaningfully to the public good.
A 2015 Statistics Canada study found that students from independent schools excel in post-secondary enrolment and graduation rates, a finding echoed by Cardus research. These achievements reflect the rigorous standards maintained by Alberta’s independent schools. These schools are also inclusive, welcoming students from varied socio-economic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Contrary to misconceptions, a 2020 Cardus study revealed that 82 per cent of independent schools’ parents earn household incomes at or below the provincial average. Families make significant financial sacrifices to enrol their children, compensating for the lower taxpayer support these schools receive compared to public institutions.
Independent schools also cater to specialized needs that might otherwise go unmet. Alberta boasts several designated special-education independent schools and early childhood services for children with unique challenges. These institutions are critical in providing tailored education while adhering to provincial learning standards. This flexibility allows parents to choose schools that align with their children’s specific requirements, creating a personalized learning environment that public schools might struggle to replicate.
Beyond academics, independent schools cultivate skills and values essential for active citizenship. A 2008 study by David E. Campbell published in BYU Law Review found independent school students are more likely to engage in community service, develop civic skills and show greater political knowledge and tolerance. In addition, the Alberta government’s Accountability Pillar cites independent schools as safe, caring and highly responsive to parental needs.
The debate over whether independent schools serve the public good often mischaracterizes their role. They’re not competitors to public schools but collaborators in delivering education. Alberta’s partial funding model ensures affordability for families while maintaining high accountability standards. This partnership fosters innovation across the education sector. Public and independent schools exchange ideas and practices, improving outcomes for all students.
Rather than being seen as a privilege, independent schools should be recognized as an integral part of our education ecosystem. They provide choice and meet diverse needs. By fostering a culture of innovation and excellence, independent schools contribute to a stronger, more inclusive society.
Ian Bushfield says no
Executive director of the BC Humanist Association
We all like to think we wouldn’t spend our money on an inferior product or service. At the very least, we expect that things that cost more are better. This belief fuels the idea that private education offers a superior experience and outcomes for students. However, this claim merits skepticism.
Comparing private and public schools is truly an apples and oranges situation. The two student bodies have different demographics, not simply because private school tuition is prohibitive for many, but because those schools can simply select the students they want. So when we look at studies and school rankings, we may see that private school students perform better on standardized tests and often have higher educational attainment, as a 2015 study for Statistics Canada found. However, such studies regularly note that private school families are typically wealthier, and that those students are more likely to have peers whose parents attended university.
It gets worse. In 2018 Global News reported that several Ontario private schools were systematically inflating students’ grades. The University of Waterloo’s engineering department assigned adjustment factors to different high schools based on the performance of students in university. Private school A-students weren’t keeping up with some public ones.
In 2020 the BC Humanist Association used University of British Columbia data to compare 3,605 students from 123 public schools and 33 private ones. We found no significant difference in four-year dropout rates and only marginally better grade-point averages for private school graduates. And there was more variation between different public schools and private schools than between the two groups. The only statistically significant difference we found was that private school students—especially those from a subset of elite schools—were more likely to have graduated UBC in four years.
The graduation rate difference is likely explained by the prevalence of university credit courses, such as IB programs, that are nearly twice as common in private schools than in public schools. Those students have an advantage in completing university faster—and perhaps that’s an argument for more public schools to offer the programs.
Otherwise, nothing in our admittedly limited study—it didn’t control for socio-economic family status nor peer status—suggests that private schools offer an educational advantage over public ones. In fact, when we narrowed our scope to the 18 larger secondary schools in Vancouver, the highest-performing students were from a public school in East Vancouver.
Many provinces, including Alberta and BC, spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually subsidizing tuition at private schools. Yet there is little evidence that academic performance is improved by a private education. Rather, family privilege matters more. The main advantage conveyed may be prestige and bragging rights for families of kids from private schools.
john jagersma responds to ian bushfield
Ian Bushfield posits that independent schools don’t provide superior education, attributing their perceived success to socio-economic privilege rather than school quality. I’ll acknowledge the need for educational equity, but I’d argue Bushfield oversimplifies the function of independent schools and misrepresents their influence. And while he and I surely agree that education is a fundamental public good, and that all schools should strive for high standards and strong achievement, we diverge on the contribution of independent schools to the broader educational framework.
Bushfield contends that independent school students’ families are affluent, but this ignores facts. A 2020 Cardus study shows that parents in 82 per cent of independent schools in Alberta have household incomes at or below the provincial average. Due in part to some operational funding by government, families from a broad range of socio-economic backgrounds can choose independent schools. Alberta is a pluralistic society, and fast-growing interest in independent schools among many cultural groups is clear evidence that independent schools are meeting the needs of a broad cross-section of families.
Bushfield also suggests independent schools’ selectivity in admissions skews academic outcomes. This is inaccurate. Alberta’s independent schools serve broad demographics and include a wide variety of schools, including faith-based institutions, schools with alternative pedagogical models (Montessori, Waldorf), schools that focus on athletics, music or the arts, schools that focus on academics and university preparation, and those specializing in students with disabilities or behavioural challenges. These schools often prioritize factors in admissions other than academic achievement, or they have open enrolment or offer bursaries to allow more families to access them.
The 2015 Statistics Canada study referenced by Bushfield acknowledges that independent school students outperform their public peers in reading, math and science at age 15, and achieve higher educational attainment by 23. Although the study recognizes the influence of family background, it doesn’t negate the role of independent schools. Factors such as structured and personalized learning environments and closer connections between the family and the school contribute to these positive outcomes. A 2012 Cardus Education Survey also showed that independent school graduates in Canada are more engaged in their communities, more generous with their time and resources, and more focused on contributing to the well-being of their neighbours.
Structured, personalized learning environments contribute to independent schools’ positive outcomes.
Bushfield cites a 2018 Global News report on grade inflation in Ontario private schools. While any academic dishonesty is concerning, this case doesn’t represent the state of independent education in Alberta. Independent schools here are subject to rigorous accreditation and accountability. Our Accountability Pillar data consistently shows strong performance in student engagement, parental involvement and safe learning environments. Moreover, the BC Humanist Association’s report comparing the performance of private- and public-school graduates in post-secondary education has limitations, including the failure to control for socio-economic status, which make its conclusions questionable. The higher graduation rates of independent school students at UBC, however, imply a positive influence on university preparedness.
Bushfield also argues that independent schools receive government subsidies without clear evidence of better student outcomes. This argument disregards the cost-effectiveness of Alberta’s partially funded model. Alberta’s independent schools receive only 70 per cent of the per-student funding allocated to public schools, aren’t eligible for the full slate of grants that public schools receive, and don’t receive any capital funding. To make up the funding shortfall, schools engage in community fundraising and rely on parents. This model saves taxpayer money. If all students currently enrolled in Alberta’s independent schools were to transfer to the public system, the education budget would face an estimated increase of $200-million per year. Rather than burden public resources, independent schools alleviate pressure while promoting diversity and innovation.
Bushfield portrays independent schools as privileged institutions that offer no genuine academic advantage over public schools. However, reality is more nuanced. Independent schools serve diverse populations, have high accountability and are innovators. Rather than dismissing these schools, a more constructive approach would be to focus on ensuring access to great education that meets the diverse needs of all students, regardless of where they attend school. Independent schools aren’t competitors to public schools but collaborators in an education landscape that values excellence, choice and student success.
ian bushfield responds to john jagersma
My colleague has made a valiant effort to argue the benefits of private schooling, but at the end of the day he’s arguing for a model where the many are expected to pay for the privileges of the few. Our public school systems across this country were built as part of a social contract that recognizes how an inclusive system that accommodates all children is a public good. That universality comes with an expectation that everyone contributes to its success. Private education, by contrast, fundamentally undermines this contract by segregating children into religious and socio-economic cocoons. It’s always existed for the elites and the religious, but lately the public subsidy provided to these enclaves has grown.
In 2022 private school tuition ranged from $7,000 to $35,000 in Alberta. There is no limit to what these schools can charge, despite their subsidies from the province. Following lobbying from special interest groups this funding has grown consistently since 1967. Half of all private schools in Alberta are faith-based, while only 12 per cent support students with special needs. Private schools lack the public oversight of an elected board and can refuse to enrol students. Union protections are nearly non-existent, meaning these teachers are typically paid less than their public sector counterparts.
These aren’t just theoretical issues. Valour Academy in Saskatchewan, formerly Legacy Christian Academy, is facing abuse allegations and a class action lawsuit from former students. Staff at the school have been charged with assaulting students. While abuse happens in the public system, its effects are isolated by the structures we’ve put in place to protect kids and discipline the perpetrators.
The framing of this dialogue is about the comparative quality of education, but underlying the “yes” argument is a desire to sap public funds for private—and often sectarian religious—benefits. The efforts to privatize education are further along in the US, as demonstrated by a 2025 article in The New Yorker, “How Religious Schools Became a Billion-Dollar Drain on Public Education.” It documents the Catholic Church’s successful efforts to secure public funds for sectarian schools. This runs counter to America’s separation of church and state but also to the values of religious neutrality and multiculturalism that inform Canada’s Charter. It’s also against the majority will, as polls in Alberta consistently show overwhelming majorities oppose subsidizing private schools with public funding.
Once you control for family privilege, there is little evidence that private schools provide a better education.
Jagersma’s work should be viewed in a similar mould. He admits as much when he highlights Alberta’s partial funding model for independent schools, claiming it provides choice while ensuring affordability. However, there is no correlation across Canada between those provinces that fund private schools and enrolment. Twice as many students in Ontario attend private schools as in Alberta, despite that province having no public subsidy. The decision to fund private schools is purely ideological rather than fundamentally about any real concern for choice or the state of our public school system.
My colleague referenced the same 2015 Statistics Canada study that I did to argue private school graduates perform better academically. However, as I wrote in my opening remarks, the authors of that study conclude that socio-economic characteristics and peers accounted for a substantial portion of the difference between public and private school pupils. In other words, family privilege is likely a more significant factor than the school itself.
Jagersma tries to rebut this with the Cardus survey that found private school families report lower incomes than the provincial average. Yet that paper (from an explicitly “faith-based think tank”) also found private school families were better educated and more religious than the general population. This suggests, again, an apples and oranges comparison between public and private systems.
He also relies on a 2008 study from the private US Mormon university Brigham Young to argue private school students are more civically engaged. Yet we know that educational attainment and involvement in religious (and non-religious!) communities correlates with volunteering and community involvement. The people most likely to attend private schools are already more likely to have pro-social attitudes. This suggests it’s not about the schools themselves but simply family values.
Jagersma presents a positive view of private schools. But these schools are a deeply ideological project being promoted by well-resourced lobby groups. People choose private schools for religious and political reasons. Rather than producing savings, the schools drain resources from our public system. And there is little evidence that private schools provide a better education, particularly once you control for familial privilege. Fundamentally, schools for everyone should be paid for by everyone, while schools for the few should be paid for by the few.
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