Privatization Of Private Schools In British Columbia

The government of British Columbia has been exploiting the residents of this province for far too long [CONSIDER CHANGING THE HOOK]. This exploitation comes clearly in the government’s promotion of the privatization of BC’s schools. Although many are not aware, the BC government is spending tax money on the subsidization of independent schools (Hyslop). There is clearly a flaw in this system, as supposedly “independent” schools become, through institutional means, increasingly reliant on the government’s resources. This misuse of government funds is having profound effects on the schooling experience of public school students in three important ways. Firstly, subsidizing private schools takes away from public school funding, and therefore impedes

[MAYBE DEFINE WHAT YOU MEAN BY ‘EQUAL OPPORTUNITY’]. While private schools finish every year with impressive surpluses in their coffers [CITE], almost every public school board in British Columbia is facing deficits. Despite budget cuts becoming more common throughout the province, the government has shown no clear interest in reworking its fiscal policies to counteract these problems. For instance, the sole high school in Osoyoos was forced to shut down in 2016 [maybe give specific date?] due to insufficient government funding. Residents of the town are now forced to send their children 22 kilometres away to the town of Oliver, in which the nearest high school is found. This type of problem is not unique to Osoyoos. Government cuts are having debilitating effects on communities large and small across the province. For example, the majority of schools in Vancouver are still in need of seismic upgrades to better protect students and staff in case of an emergency. In fact, twenty one schools in Vancouver are classified as ‘H1,’ a designation which refers to those schools that are likely to incur major damage during an earthquake (Smyth). The safety of the provinces students should be the number one concern of the government. Public schools have been met with increasingly serious cutbacks

Many middle class families argue for bursaries (Vermond) so that their children may receive the same opportunity as those of wealthy families. However,is it not more logical to invest in the public school system rather than to simply make private school more accessible? In my view, the government has opted for a superficial solution rather than an effective one by increasing its investment in private schools. The government has forgone investing in the public system and creating a long term solution that supports the needs of all students and families in BC, regardless of wealth. If the government continues to make private schools more accessible this problem will worsen, affecting both the government and the average citizen. It is fundamentally wrong to force working class families who have no connection to private schools to fund them through taxation. To begin with, the concept of publically funding private schools is itself flawed. For instance, the Oxford Dictionary defines a private school as “[a] school supported by a private organization or private individuals rather than by the state” (Oxford). The term