Expanding Choice in Ontario’s Public Schools

The Fraser Institute today released a new study of school choice options across Canada, finding that the western provinces and Quebec offer much more school choice than Ontario. 

Quoting from the study, "Providing families with greater opportunities to choose between schools has emerged as a powerful way to improve education. In addition to enhancing student achievement, school choice stimulates innovation, encourages efficiencies, promotes diversity, and typically leads to increased satisfaction among parents and the public. For these and related reasons, more than two-thirds of OECD countries have adopted policies increasing the school choices available to their families."

There are a number of ways to provide parents with more options - for example, charter schools and school vouchers/tax credits - but neither of these options is apparently palatable to the present Ontario government. In light of this reality, the study recommends a couple of other ways to expand diversity, namely local polilcies that encourage school diversity and open enrollment. 

As the study's author sums up, "A rich diversity of such schools would introduce a measure of increased competition into the public system which could be expected to have a positive effect on academic achievement and parental and public satisfaction. Education professionals, especially teachers, could also benefit from opportunities to join more motivating work environments."

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