FORSETH – The faulty math of alleged savings by not funding private schools
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TRUST THE FORMER president of the B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF), Terry Mooring, to trot out the age old, and massively incorrect, comment that private schools in British Columbia take away funding that should be going to public schools.
Her comment is ridiculous, of course, as she very well knows, but it certainly plays well to her base (mainly NDP supporters) who perhaps don’t think through what she and others in the hierarchy of the BCTF have to say.
Mooring states, “We would be able to fully fund the public school system if government didn’t fund private schools.”
What she doesn’t state, because she doesn’t want people to dig too deep, is that ending government funding of private schools would literally bankrupt the provincial government.
Here are the cold hard fiscal facts!
There are approximately 90,000 children that attend B.C.’s private schools, with each of those students receiving a ‘maximum’ of 50% (range starts at 25%) of the per pupil funding allocated to students in public schools.
And what is that per pupil funding you ask?
It amounts to an average of $15,000, so the Education Ministry is basically saving 50% per student ($7,500 vs. $15,000).
Moving 90,000 private school students to public schools would therefore double the per student funding required. That means an additional $1.35 BILLION dollars from the provincial treasury
Adding 90,000 students would also require at least 3,500 additional classrooms (on top of massive classroom shortages already faced by students in school districts across the province).
I did a Google search and guess what? The average cost to construct each and every classroom is $1.2 million. Got your calculator out? 3,500 classrooms at a cost of $1.2 million each comes to a whopping $4.2 BILLION dollars.
Now what about the additional 3,500 teachers that will be needed? I’ll be generous and use the starting salary of $65,000 to calculate this one … that adds another $227 MILLION dollars which school districts will need to find.
On top of that, hundreds of additional support staff will need to be hired … there’s the cost of playing fields … land acquisition for the new schools … and dozens of other expenditures we don’t even think about.
The bottom line is this ….
There is no possible way that the province can afford Mooring’s claim that the B.C. government could “fully fund the public school system if government didn’t fund private schools.”
But she already knew that.
Alan Forseth is a Kamloops resident. For 40 years he has been active, in a number of capacities, in local, provincial and federal politics, including running as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the 1996 provincial election. He is secretary of the Conservative Party of B.C. He blogs at Thoughts on BC Politics and More.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
OK so 3,500 classrooms are needed @ $1.2million = $4.2 billion, that’s a big number but at least he’s saying we need classrooms and not portables that his buddy Campbell was providing for a decade. One question I have Alan, what’s the life expectancy of a classroom?
I graduated from Kam Hi which opened in 1952 making it 73 yrs old but it’ll be closing in the next couple of yrs I’m sure. I went to Arthur Stevenson Elementary and that was built in the late ’50’s with a large addition in the 70’s, but the original wing has been left untouched making it about 70 yrs old. So let’s say the life expectancy is 75 years, this requires a new equation;
$4.2Billion/75 yrs = $56million per yr for the classrooms over the lifetime
Ok that’s a little more of a manageable number, but that’s for 90,000 students right, we’re going to need a new equation;
$56million/90,000 students = $622.22 per student per yr for classrooms, that doesn’t sound too bad.
Let’s get this straight, we pay the private school $7,500 per student then subtract $622 for the classroom leaving $6,880 per student to provide an education. Then multiple this by 90,000 students and we’re subsidizing private schools in the tune of $620million annually.
Ok let’s think this thru, if the private school kids went to public schools you said that would cost $1.35billion more but shouldn’t we subtract the $620million that we’re paying the private schools, leaving $715million not $1.35billion? And the additional teachers salaries of $227million which you “generously” estimated was already factored in with the $1.35billion, you’re double dipping. The added support staff, ya they’re also added in with the $1.35. The cost of land acquisition, playing fields and other expense, these are all part of the $4.2billion classroom construction costs.
So the $4.2billion is meaningless, it’s nothing more than an attention seeker. The $1.35billion plus $227 million = $1.577billion is nothing more than flashy lights because using your numbers the total cost is $715million per yr for the 90,000 students, all in, not $1.577billion.
Not to be a stickler but the Fraser Institute published a similar analysis with a little difference in numbers, $14,601 per public school student, $8,685 per private school student subsidy, $5,916 difference, not $7,500 as you stated. That’s an extra $1,600 savings by 90,000 which comes to another $144million subtracted from the $715million brings this down to $570million.
I could go on and on but this is getting kinda tedious. The Fraser Institute, never a friend to the the public sector particularly the teachers unions came up with $500million total number if every student enrolled in public schools which is a number less than a 1/3 of the number you came up with. Think about that, your number is 3x the teacher mortal enemies number is, THREE TIMES.
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Mac Forseth writes by omission. independent (private) schools often offload special needs students and problem children onto public schools because they aren’t legally required to provide full special education services under IDEA many selectively admit or counsel out such students to maintain a “typical” student body. As a result, public schools serve 15% special needs students (7.5M out of 50M total enrollment), while private schools serve 2-5% (estimated, as 1.6% of special ed students are in private schools overall).
independent school teachers in British Columbia are not required to have a 5-year degree like many public-school teachers. Public schools mandate a Certificate of Qualification, typically from a 4-year bachelor’s plus a 1-year (or integrated 5-year) teacher education program. Independent schools require an Independent School Teaching Certificate (ISTC), which allows alternatives like a bachelor’s degree with 1.5+ years of relevant teaching experience, without needing full teacher training.
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Mr. Forseth you are correct in your assessment as funding realities currently exist.
However, private educational institutions allow those that can afford them an excuse to argue for less funding for public education by government. Those that can afford private will always desire that fewer of their tax dollars go to supporting a system which they have no vtested interest in.
Why should the government subsidize private education when the public system is available? If all children regardless of social status or wealth had to use the public system maybe more wealthy BCers would be eager to increase funding for the public system.
The private system actually siphon finances from the public. Not to mention that it is impossible for a “for profit” organization to be cheaper as they requirement for a profit will always be more expensive of all things are equal.
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The comment is “We would be able to fully fund the public school system if government didn’t fund private schools.”
The argument isnt to move 90k kids into the public system, but to not use public dollars to fund private schools.
Private schools would still have the option to increase the fees to the students at their school. No one is saying ‘close private schools’.
Your entire argument is based on every private student entering the public system. Obviously, yes some students might have to do that, but many families would just absorb the increased costs, so either way, your math just doesn’t stand up.
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