LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Independent schools should pay the price

It was with no small amount of consternation and concern that I read Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen’s column (View from the Legislature) entitled, “Education option remains important right,” in the Nov. 28 edition of The Carillon. In his article Mr. Goertzen raises the ongoing topic of “parental rights” in public education. After reading the article, I am perplexed. To which parents and which rights is he referring to? In the column, Mr. Goertzen was most effusive in extolling the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools which for 50 years have “advocated for parental choice in the Manitoba education system.” In reality, that parental choice of attending an independent faith-based school is not an option for the majority of families.

To make matters even more egregious, some of these independent schools receive 50 percent of their funding (since 1996) from the province, from all tax paying citizens. The majority of Manitoba’s tax paying citizens/parents would not meet the faith-based requirements, political views and financial resources that would allow them to attend an independent school, even if they wanted to. When it comes the education option Mr. Goertzen is extolling, apparently “we are all equal, but some or more equal than others.”

When we speak of parental rights, which parents and which rights are we talking about? Do we mean all parents or just the affluent ones who share our personal religious beliefs to the exclusion of others, less fortunate or of a different political/religious mindset?

In Manitoba the “important education option” of creating an independent faith-based school exists as an alternative to the public education system. Fine, but Mr. Goertzen and others of a similar political view should pay the full price for that “faith-based alternative” and should not be subsidized by public funding. Independent school funding could and should be used to support a financially strapped public education system in Manitoba to begin with. The public education system does not discriminate and exclude the most vulnerable and needy children.