Face-to-face

MLA opposes increasing funding to private schools

Eighth in a series

The ATA News is featuring interviews with members of the provincial government's Standing Policy Committee on Education and Training. The committee's mandate is to review and make recommendations on policies, programs and legislation pertaining to education and career training. The committee also hears public submissions, reviews budgets and makes recommendations for three-year business plans.

Freelance journalist David Kirkham will interview 11 members of the committee plus the education critics for the Alberta Liberals and New Democrats. Featured here is an interview with Denis Ducharme, Progressive Conservative MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake.

What educational background do you bring to the committee?

"I served two terms on the Lakeland Catholic School District. The last couple of years I served as board chair. So I have a bit of background in education."

What is your opinion of the voucher system where funding follows the individual student?

"It may work as long as it follows the student allowing [him or her] to have an open boundary choice within the public system. I haven't taken the time to study it to become an expert as far as being able to answer that question. If we start setting up different systems of education throughout the province, I think we'd end up with a watered-down education system."

What is your opinion of the proposal to increase funding for private schools?

"I'm opposed to any increases in funding for private schools. I guess the message is out there for the parents of the 15,000 students that are presently attending private schools. There's certainly a concern out there. Maybe it's time the public education system looks at what the issues are and makes a few changes within our charter system to address these concerns. It seems a lot of it has to do with religion and maybe something can be arranged where parents could have control of their religion in a charter school within the public system."

What is the role of charter schools now and in the future?

"I'm in favor of charter schools as long as they conform to some fundamentals, for example they can't be exclusive. They should offer something other than what the public system is presently offering. The only thing I see with charter schools that could cause a problem is that they may be better suited for urban areas than rural areas. In rural areas it may be rather divisive when you have four or five charter schools in a community—all of a sudden you've got too few students in any one of those systems to make it viable and provide a quality education."

What role should local fund-raising play in the education system and what should this money be used for?

"Local fund-raising for schools isn't some-thing new. When my children started school I was involved in fund-raising for playground equipment or for extra-curricular activities like field trips. I don't see that kind of fund-raising changing in the future. Technology such as computers is rapidly changing and it's difficult as a government or a school to maintain the quality. If the parents feel there is a need and they feel they can do a little bit of fund-raising, that's fine."

What is the relationship between class size and quality of education?

"That's a tough question. It would depend on the subject that's being taught, how it's being taught and the class mix. You could probably hold some classes with as many as 50 or 60 students and in other situations you may only be able to provide proper teaching to 20 students. We have to teach our youth the basics of learning so they can fend for themselves and learn on their own. Once they graduate from our high schools and go on to post-secondary, they're certainly going into many classrooms where the number may be as high as 200 students. It's unfortunate in many salary negotiations that things are related to class size. I'm not a believer that the contract should be tied with the pupil/teacher ratio."

What should be the role of the Alberta Teachers' Association?

"Its role should be to monitor and evaluate the professionalism of the teaching profession. Presently, a major downfall is that the ATA doesn't do a good job of selling professionalism. It hasn't separated professionalism from bargaining units. It doesn't seem to be out there tooting its horn about professional activities or the conquests it has achieved. It always seems to be focusing on wages and bargaining. Over the years that's left a bad taste with many Albertans. I just see [the ATA] as an arm out there strictly for wages and benefits. In any type of profession you've got some good people and you've got some people who aren't doing a good job. That's where a lot of people are upset. It seems to be out there just defending the poor teachers. There are few of these poor teachers that are being replaced or moved out of the field. So along with the negotiating arm, it's certainly leaving a bad taste with a lot of Albertans."

What plans do you have to put more money into education?

"Education has been seeing increases every year. For 1997–98, we're going to be spending close to $3 billion. That's about half of a percent less than the funding in place prior to the cutbacks. Education, I don't think, can only be measured by what we're providing for funding per student. There's a lot of curriculum development. There are a lot of buildings out there that certainly have to be looked at. We may have to re-evaluate how we deliver education. Maybe we'll have to go to year-round schooling rather than the system we presently have. I'm certain that all MLAs in the province are very committed to education for our children. I personally believe it's one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children for the future. I don't think we can always relate to the need in dollar terms. We're always relating to it in dollars and cents rather than looking at innovative new approaches on how we can provide that education for our children."

How does student performance in Alberta compare with performance in other provinces and countries?

"With the stats we have been receiving from the ministry, I believe overall we're providing a good quality education. Our 13 and 16 year olds outperform their Canadian counterparts. Grade 4 students out-ranked all English speaking participants in the third International Math and Science Study. Our Grade 8 students tied with Japan overall. We may not be the best, but we're certainly offering a good quality education. We seem to have some problems with math and the sciences but I understand there's a new curriculum in place, so I think we have to be patient."