Part One
I’m a graduate of Myrtle Philip School’s first Grade 7 class. I also went to school in Richmond, Pemberton and for a brief stint at Prince of Wales Secondary on Vancouver’s Westside. What I discovered is that the schools matter less than the teachers; I had two or three good ones in my 12 years. When I came out the other end at the age of 18, I found I had to unlearn many of the ways of thinking I’d acquired before I could get on with my life and follow my interests.
Perhaps that was the main reason I felt it necessary to help create an independent school in Whistler for my own kids. That, and the fact that my son’s kindergarten year at Myrtle Philip School in 1998 was fraught with corporate influences and money going towards computers rather than what I deemed more valuable areas such as music and art. It was nothing personal against my elementary alma mater; all schools were heading in a more corporate and computer savvy direction. As the principal at the time candidly told me at my first PAC meeting: "It’s just the way things are going now." Frankly, I didn’t think I could have much impact in altering the course.
Opting out of the public school system can be seen as a subversive act. Schools are where society forms the minds of the next generation. They create patterns of thinking and acting that inform our society well into the future. Yet 10 per cent of students in B.C., or nearly 65,000 children, attend independent schools. Another 0.5 per cent are homeschooled.
When I grew up, and perhaps still today, the perception of independent or private schools was that of the exclusive, elitist academy where rich kids learned how to stay that way. In fact, of the over 300 independent schools in B.C., only 10 are of the Ivy League prep school variety with high tuition fees. The majority of independent schools were created to accommodate differing philosophies and beliefs rather than different income levels. They include religious schools such as Roman Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Sikh and Mennonite, as well as the secular Waldorf, Montessori, and special needs schools. Independent schools that meet specific requirements set out by the Ministry of Education can receive 50 per cent of the per capita public school funding.
The debate around whether independent schools should receive public funding has gone on in B.C. since 1977, when funds were first allocated for independent education. In 1987, the Sullivan Royal Commission took a close look at the debate. It heard opponents of public funding for independent schools argue that public education had emerged in B.C. over the past century by consensus and should therefore not be disturbed. The argument continues that education is a public good which must be preserved, and that support for non-public education could be socially divisive, and "may inculcate in children a sense of separateness, elitism or intolerance not beneficial to individuals or to society as a whole." Finally, opponents argued that funding independent schools depletes resources for public education both financially and in terms of parent support and involvement in the public system.
Proponents of independent schooling spoke of the social value of independent schools and the democratic right of choice in education. They argued that there is no one universally agreed upon system of schooling that works for all, and that alternatives to the public system provide competition that ultimately strengthens education as a whole. They hold that B.C.’s multicultural, pluralistic society should be reflected in its education system, and that public support for independent education is common throughout the western world.
The Sullivan Commission discovered that people on both sides of the debate tended to state their cases in the extreme. For example, parental dissatisfaction with public schooling as justification for subscription to non-public schooling was found to be somewhat overstated – it discerned that public schools in general respond well to the majority of British Columbians. On the other side, it found the argument that independent schools are elitist or exclusionary to be "just as inaccurate and overstated." The focus on the small number of elitist or wealthier schools, it said, "diverted attention from the larger denominational and special needs independent school sector and the importance of fiscal support to the educational programs of such institutions."
As to the economic debate involving independent schools, the commission found "no evidence to support the hypothesis that provincial support for independent schools has, to date, reduced the level of funding for public schools." Figures from the 2004/05 school year show that independent schools received $177 million for an enrolment of almost 65,000 students. Funding for those students in the public system would have cost $438 million, or an additional $261 million. Moving that number of students back into public schools would also result in additional capital costs of $750 million to $1 billion.
The Sullivan Royal Commission on Education concluded: "As this report has detailed throughout its pages, the accommodation of diversity – whether defined by individual or group differences at regional, local or neighbourhood levels, or in terms of varying parental and pupil appetites for school services – is a factor of primary importance. We believe it must be satisfied.
"With this recognition of diversity comes the need for choice – choice that centres on learners and parents, choice that is located at the level of the individual school district, the individual school, and where possible, the individual classroom. In a society that seeks greater measures of differentiation and greater acknowledgement of diversity, choice is of paramount consideration, the Commission believes."
Choice in education
Public schools in the Sea To Sky corridor already offer a variety of choices in education. Francophone Schools exist in Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton for French speaking members of the community; French Immersion will be available in Whistler beginning this September, as it already is in Squamish; Whistler Secondary offers a Flex-Ed program for students whose interests take them away from classes, as well as a sports program; they’ve also instituted new carpentry and tourism management trade programs, while Howe Sound Secondary has embarked on a Culinary Arts program.
Despite these choices, a growing number of people in the area have chosen to step outside the public school system. Waldorf Schools and Montessori kindergartens have sprung up in Whistler and Squamish, parents in Pemberton have created the Pemberton Alternative Education Co-operative, the Glen Eden School in Whistler offers special needs education, and homeschoolers exist in all communities throughout the corridor.
I recently sat down with Howe Sound School Board trustees Andree Janyk and Don Brett, and Alta Lake (Waldorf) School principal Michelle Kirkegaard to discuss the relationship between independent and public schools in the corridor. Both school trustees agreed that independent schools have a role to play in the district.
"It’s entirely valid for a parent to choose another alternative if the choice isn’t offered in the public school system," says Brett.
Janyk adds: "There are other needs that other families have where they choose an independent school for their children; they provide another alternative."
"Where it gets more interesting," Brett says, "is if the public school system isn’t meeting needs, you have to ask yourself why is it not meeting the need, and what can we do in order to meet the need. That’s an extremely important question."
Kirkegaard was a public school teacher in Alberta before she and her family moved to Whistler and helped form the Alta Lake School (along with a few other families including my own).
"When you look at meeting needs, everyone has different needs," she says. "When I moved here I knew this (Waldorf School) was what I wanted. I wondered, was anybody else interested. Grassroots is a great way to build things; a group of people. It became important to this community as shown by the increase in numbers. It showed a need.
"I have difficulty with the word ‘public’ in education," she continues, referring to some people’s initial reaction to independent schools. "Our school is public in that it’s open to everybody and it’s publicly funded. We’re a non profit organization and we’re not providing experiences that only the wealthy can have."
After establishing itself over the last six years, the Alta Lake School recently switched to a pay-as-you’re-able fee structure to ensure accessibility to all families.
The reasons parents turn to an alternative like the Alta Lake School can vary widely. When Kirkegaard first came across Waldorf education in New Mexico, she admired the way the teachers were also learning about themselves.
"They were bringing the art of teaching and a love of learning to the children. That was one of their concentrations in their profession; it wasn’t just based on meeting certain objective criteria."
The Waldorf curriculum relies heavily on the arts in its teaching philosophy, Kirkegaard says. This is not to encourage every student to become an artist, but rather because approaching a subject through art allows for a subtle understanding of everything from physics and mathematics to geology and history.
"When you experience something, through movement or music or food, it’s not just an intellectual understanding, but an emotional one.… It’s brought to them artistically because it engages our emotional side; those are the things we remember the most. Art takes us into something in a whole new way. Not to create a craft, but as a way of understanding a culture and a history."
Alternate approaches to education, like the one Kirkegaard describes at the Alta Lake School, don’t go unnoticed by the school district. Brett points to ways in which the district and the Ministry of Education are trying to meet the varying needs of parents and students. Some of the smaller measures include legislation to ensure parents have the right to choose which school their children go to. Schools and districts can also now choose what educational calendar they want to work from.
"There are organizational things underway that are intended to encourage exploration of choice," Brett says. "The accountability contract, which is relatively new as well, sets out goals for the district. The school planning councils provide a forum for parental and community input, and that input would presumably cover areas where people want to see more choice and more alternatives. And that feeds up into the planning for the school district."
From her own experience as a parent, Janyk stresses that the ability to make change within the public system is always there.
"I’ve been in the school system since 1985 and I’ve always felt I had a voice. I had my children in French immersion, and I made a choice about how that school ran. How did I have a bigger influence? I became the PAC chair and I went to the principal and said ‘I don’t like the parking lot conversations about what this school’s doing or not doing. Let’s do something different.’ So we had a facilitated meeting, where the principal and I stood there as a united front with 15 teachers, 15 parents, the janitor. We said, ‘On the extra curricular things, what do we want to do?’ We had a science month, a reading month, a physical education month, an arts and crafts month. A teacher led each month and we had the parents joining in and a science teacher from Cap College came in and did the science month. It was extra curricular but it drove the curricular."
Parents will always have a passion for creating the kind of education they feel best serves the needs of their children. Whether they try to make changes within the public system, which seems to be moving toward greater flexibility and choice, or decide to step outside of it, ultimately depends on the scope of change they’re looking for.
Part Two
What is the measure of a good education?
Future possibilities for public and independent schools
